Making things in orbit that can't be made on Earth

How far are we from making products in orbit that are sold on Earth?

Materials have been processed in orbit and brought back. Varda returned ritonavir crystals in February 2024, and NASA reported more than 11.9 km of optical fibre drawn on the International Space Station from mid-February to mid-March 2024. A 2026 study reported one small semiconductor crystal grown on the China Space Station with measured properties better than a ground-grown sample. None of this is routine production yet. The sources reviewed give no repeat batches sold to customers, no measured yield per flight and no full cost of return.

AI illustration · Illustrative scene, not a photograph of the specific device or experiment.
WHERE WE AREEngineering prototypes

Getting closer. Prototypes exist, but not in real-world use.

Materials have been made in orbit and returned in usable form, and one controlled comparison reports a measured property gain. Each result so far is a single run, a small sample or a research-grade test. No repeatable production run has been shown with disclosed yield, cost and customer sales, so the stage is engineering prototype rather than pilot.

The tech tree

Everything recorded on Vrulum that this future needs, oldest foundations at the top and the goal at the bottom. Lines show what each step requires.

What it takes: Making things in orbit that can't be made on Earth Unlocked Being researched Locked
  1. 2017Asteroid miningResearch and prototypes Being researched.
  1. 2014In-space manufacturingResearch and prototypesRequires: Asteroid mining. Being researched.
  1. 1964Reusable launch vehiclesPilot and early commercialRequires: In-space manufacturing. Unlocked.
  1. 2021Commercial space stationsResearch and prototypesRequires: Reusable launch vehicles. Being researched.
  2. 2025Space biomanufacturingLab demonstration Being researched.
  1. 2024Pharmaceutical crystal returned intactDone Unlocked.
  2. 2024Long optical fibre drawn in orbitDone Unlocked.
  3. 2026Measured property gain against a matched ground sampleDone Unlocked.
  4. 2026Product-relevant test in orbitIn progress Being researched.
  5. Date not recordedRepeat production with disclosed yield and costNot started Locked.
  6. Date not recordedOrbit-made product sold for use on EarthNot started Locked.
  1. GoalMaking things in orbit that can't be made on EarthGoalRequires: In-space manufacturing, Space biomanufacturing, Commercial space stations, Long optical fibre drawn in orbit, Pharmaceutical crystal returned intact, Measured property gain against a matched ground sample, Product-relevant test in orbit, Repeat production with disclosed yield and cost, Orbit-made product sold for use on Earth. Locked.

The road so far

3 of 6 steps done, 1 in progress.

  1. Done · Mar 2024Long optical fibre drawn in orbit

    NASA reported that fibre drawn on the International Space Station from mid-February to mid-March 2024 totalled more than 11.9 km. The longest single-day draw was about 1,141 m. NASA said analysis after return was still needed to test its goal of fibre ten times better in quality than Earth-made fibre. [1]

  2. Done · 21 Feb 2024Pharmaceutical crystal returned intact

    Varda's W-1 capsule carried ritonavir crystals to orbit on a launch in June 2023 and landed in Utah on 21 February 2024. The mission was planned for about one month but lasted more than eight months after regulatory setbacks. Varda's study reports that the metastable Form III of ritonavir was recovered after being made in orbit. This shows survival and stability, not a clinical or manufacturing benefit. [2][3]

  3. Done · 25 Feb 2026Measured property gain against a matched ground sample

    A 2026 study grew an indium arsenide-antimonide crystal of about 11 mm diameter on the China Space Station, over 60 hours of growth. It reports an electron mobility of about 12,590 cm2/V·s against about 6,070 for the ground-grown sample, at similar electron concentration. Dislocation density was about one order of magnitude lower. This is a single run and a small crystal, with a growth length of about 2.5 mm. [4]

  4. In progress · 20 Oct 2026Product-relevant test in orbit

    Varda's mission page for W-7 gives a launch date of 20 October 2026, but the same page shows a 'launched' status, so the timing is not clear from the page. It describes a PROTAC class cancer medicine (no compound named) and says the mission will test whether microgravity can give PROTAC crystal forms with better solubility. The page reports no results, so the outcome is not yet known. [5]

  5. Not startedRepeat production with disclosed yield and cost

    The sources reviewed give no usable yield per flight, no cost per returned gram and no repeat batches run to one specification. Varda has said it eventually wants to ramp up to a monthly reentry cadence by 2026, but the sources reviewed do not show whether that cadence has been reached. [2]

  6. Not startedOrbit-made product sold for use on Earth

    No customer contract, sale or repeat purchase of a product made in orbit appears in the sources reviewed. Improved properties in one crystal or one fibre run do not establish a market.

Why it matters

Some materials may be easier to control without gravity-driven flow, so a product might be good enough to justify the cost of flying it. Finding out which products clear that bar shows where investment is most likely to pay off. Results from orbit may also improve how the same materials are made on the ground.

What stands in the way

  • The quality of returned fibre against a commercial benchmark has not been published in the sources reviewed. NASA said analysis after return was still needed to test its tenfold quality goal.
  • The 2026 crystal result comes from one run of one small crystal. No repeat batches, device-level performance or yield figures are reported.
  • Return flights are scarce and can be delayed. Varda's first capsule mission was planned for about one month and lasted more than eight months.
  • Surviving flight and return is not the same as a better medicine. The ritonavir study shows stability after flight, not clinical benefit or a lower-cost manufacturing route.
  • No disclosed yield, cost or customer data is given in the sources reviewed, so the economics of returning products cannot be checked.

Published forecasts

What others have predicted. These are their estimates, not ours.

WhoForecastTimeframeMade
Varda Space IndustriesSaid it eventually wants to ramp up to a monthly reentry cadence by 2026. This is a company target about capsule returns, not a measured outcome, and the sources reviewed do not show whether it was met. [2]202621 Feb 2024

Signals to watch

  • Published results from Varda's W-7 mission on PROTAC crystal solubility.
  • Independent tests of space-drawn optical fibre, reporting attenuation and strength against commercial fibre at the wavelengths customers use.
  • Repeat InAsSb growths with larger crystals and device-level performance reported.
  • Yield per flight and cost per returned gram disclosed for an orbit-made product.
  • Capsule reentry cadence reported against Varda's stated monthly goal.

Sources

  1. government report
    Optical Fiber Production
    NASA, 25 Mar 2024.
  2. news
    Varda Space, Rocket Lab nail first-of-its-kind spacecraft landing in Utah.
    TechCrunch, 21 Feb 2024.
  3. preprint
    Return of the Ritonavir: A Study on the Stability of Pharmaceuticals Processed in Orbit and Returned to Earth
    Varda Collaboration. ChemRxiv, 20 Mar 2024.
  4. peer reviewed paper
    Microgravity-enabled growth of uniform InAsSb bulk single crystal
    Jidong Huang, Huaiwen Zheng, Zhigang Yin et al.. npj Microgravity, 25 Feb 2026.
  5. company announcement
    W-7
    Varda Space Industries, 2026.

Last reviewed 21 Oct 2026.