SpaceX to launch one-tonne orbital factory for European space firm in 2028

Space Cargo Unlimited has signed a contract to fly a tonne-scale microgravity manufacturing facility aboard SpaceX’s Starfall re-entry vehicle, with pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and advanced materials among the industries being targeted

A European space company plans to launch a one-tonne factory into orbit aboard a SpaceX spacecraft as it seeks to move microgravity manufacturing towards commercial-scale production.

Space Cargo Unlimited said it has signed a contract to fly the facility aboard SpaceX’s Starfall re-entry vehicle, which is due to launch on a Starship rocket in 2028.

The mission would increase the firm’s manufacturing capacity from its existing 100kg-scale missions to one tonne, allowing substantially larger quantities of materials and experiments to be processed in microgravity.

The company intends to offer the capacity to businesses developing products in areas including pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and advanced materials, handling the specialist spaceflight work required to prepare, launch, operate and return their manufacturing payloads.

Space Cargo, which is based in Luxembourg, is already in discussions with more than 100 potential customers, with around 40 per cent of them working in life sciences and biotechnology.

The 2028 mission is part of a wider plan to develop a fleet of orbital manufacturing platforms. 

Space Cargo is developing REV1, a larger autonomous factory and re-entry vehicle based on the European Space Agency’s Space Rider programme, with Thales Alenia Space.

Its existing BentoBox platform is designed as a standardised autonomous facility that can host experiments and manufacturing processes aboard different spacecraft.

Nicolas Gaume, co-founder and chief executive of Space Cargo, said: “For more than thirty years, we’ve known that manufacturing in microgravity can create materials and products that simply cannot be produced on Earth. The challenge has never been the science. The challenge has been making access commercially practical, repeatable and scalable.”

He added: “We believe space is reaching that moment. By leveraging SpaceX’s world-leading launch capabilities for our next-generation one tonne capacity space factories, we’re building a true assembly line for microgravity, supporting our customers as the layer between launch providers and manufacturers who want to innovate as fast in orbit as they do on Earth.”

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_{Main image: SpaceX’s Starfall re-entry vehicle is shown returning through Earth’s atmosphere. Space Cargo Unlimited plans to fly its one-tonne orbital manufacturing facility aboard Starfall in 2028. Credit: SpaceX}