Redwire to build biotech lab in Sierra Space’s LIFE space station
Sierra Space announced yesterday that — as part of its private space station module dubbed LIFE — it is partnering with Redwire to install a commercial biotech lab in the module.
The hardware includes equipment that Redwire has previously developed for the International Space Station, such as the Advanced Space Experiment Processor, which hosts biotech experiments. A particular focus will be on crystallization experiments, using the microgravity environment to grow larger crystals that can then be studied to determine their structure for pharmaceutical applications.
The companies did not disclose terms of the contract other than that Redwire will start delivering hardware in the fourth quarter of this year. Gold said that the companies will also partner on business development to identify customers for using the experiment platform.
The target date for the launch of LIFE is presently 2026, though it was not revealed when Redwire’s equipment would be installed.
What struck me about this deal is the shrinking mention of Blue Origin. Originally that company was listed as one of the major players in building this private space station, dubbed Orbital Reef, in which LIFE is only the first module. In the past year however its participation seems less and less significant in every subsequent press release. It appears to still be part of the project, but it is Sierra Space that is leading the effort, and appears to be making things happen.
But then, the track record of Blue Origin is to not make things happen. It could very well be that events are once again overtaking it. Sierra Space can’t wait for Blue Origin to slowly get its act together. It is finding ways to get things done, even if that means Blue Origin gets left behind.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Sierra Space announced yesterday that — as part of its private space station module dubbed LIFE — it is partnering with Redwire to install a commercial biotech lab in the module.
The hardware includes equipment that Redwire has previously developed for the International Space Station, such as the Advanced Space Experiment Processor, which hosts biotech experiments. A particular focus will be on crystallization experiments, using the microgravity environment to grow larger crystals that can then be studied to determine their structure for pharmaceutical applications.
The companies did not disclose terms of the contract other than that Redwire will start delivering hardware in the fourth quarter of this year. Gold said that the companies will also partner on business development to identify customers for using the experiment platform.
The target date for the launch of LIFE is presently 2026, though it was not revealed when Redwire’s equipment would be installed.
What struck me about this deal is the shrinking mention of Blue Origin. Originally that company was listed as one of the major players in building this private space station, dubbed Orbital Reef, in which LIFE is only the first module. In the past year however its participation seems less and less significant in every subsequent press release. It appears to still be part of the project, but it is Sierra Space that is leading the effort, and appears to be making things happen.
But then, the track record of Blue Origin is to not make things happen. It could very well be that events are once again overtaking it. Sierra Space can’t wait for Blue Origin to slowly get its act together. It is finding ways to get things done, even if that means Blue Origin gets left behind.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
But then, the track record of Blue Origin is to not make things happen.
This is the thing, of course. That said, I was struck that in the new NASA Space Flight Flyover video this afternoon, they have captured a lot of footage of a lot of hardware at the Blue Origin facility at the Cape: an honest-to-God first stage undergoing actual pressure testing, for example, and a pretty packed factory floor.
What does it all amount to? A lot more than there was last year, to be sure. But how close is Blue Origin to an actual launch? We can’t know that, and BO has not offered a firm date, and so I still think we can’t expect anything before (at least) 2025. All I can say is that it does look like they are starting to make some real progress. I certainly hope so. Skeptical as I am of BO, I would rather live in a reality where they are an active and vigorous part of the U.S. launch market than one where they are not.
Robert wrote: “What struck me about this deal is the shrinking mention of Blue Origin. Originally that company was listed as one of the major players in building this private space station, dubbed Orbital Reef, in which LIFE is only the first module. In the past year however its participation seems less and less significant in every subsequent press release. It appears to still be part of the project, but it is Sierra Space that is leading the effort, and appears to be making things happen.”
It could be that Blue Origin has become distracted by other problems that demand more immediate attention. They may have relinquished the leadership role so that they can solve their other problems and get back on track with Orbital Reef. Whether they can regain a leadership role, or deserve one, remains to be seen. I am still hopeful that Bezos can get his company back to being a leader. They were first in landing a reusable booster rocket, but they lost their sense of urgency after that. The commercial space stations require a sense of urgency if they are to be operational by the time ISS retires.
Another possibility comes out of the Space News article:
Because early space businesses that were the most discussed by the public were headed and funded by rich men, it seems to be assumed that only rich men are doing space business and thus playing in space. If the Orbital Reef team emphasizes Blue Origin’s involvement, then this assumption could be an overbearing topic, preventing the other uses of commercial space stations. Since the benefits of the ISS are not well publicized, very few people know what happens aboard it, and many think that the astronauts just float around up there, looking out the window or giving demonstrations of freefall fun with water droplets and cetera.
This is one of the things that I think is a major detraction of the ISS and the Space Shuttle projects. They didn’t produce much that was immediately or visibly useful to us earthlings. Who cares that Pepsi and Coke flew on the Shuttle, and who cares about brewing beer in space? No one, but those are the things that get the attention of the general news media and of the taxpayer. That Orbital Reef is likely to help pharmaceutical companies make their products (hopefully made in space), then the usefulness of space may soon be understood by the civilian population. The best part, the taxpayer did not have to pay for these manufacturing facilities.