For more than two decades, the International Space Station demonstrated that microgravity can unlock discoveries impossible to achieve on Earth. The impact is most profound across three critical domains: biopharmaceutical innovation, advanced materials and semiconductors and defense research and operations.
In space, biology behaves differently. And those differences matter.
Without gravity pulling molecules downward, proteins can grow into larger and more uniform crystals. Cells form naturally in three dimensions rather than flattening against a surface. Biological processes unfold with fewer distortions. For researchers, that means clearer data and potentially more effective therapies.
These advantages have been demonstrated for years. Starlab opens the aperture to scale meaningfully.
Its dedicated human and biological research facilities give pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies sustained access to a controlled microgravity environment designed specifically for high-value research. Continuous crew presence ensures complex investigations can proceed without interruption. Scientists can grow higher-quality protein crystals, develop more realistic disease models and accelerate work on cancer treatments, aging-related conditions and rare diseases.
Equally important, Starlab integrates AI-enabled process optimization and quality monitoring directly into the research environment. Experiments can be tracked, adjusted and validated in real time, improving repeatability and reducing risk.
The result is straightforward: faster insight, better data and a clearer path from discovery to product.
Manufacturing What Earth Cannot
If microgravity reshapes biology, it transforms materials science.
On Earth, gravity introduces tiny imperfections into advanced materials. As crystals grow, heavier elements settle. Convection currents disturb formation. Microscopic defects emerge that limit performance.
In microgravity, many of those disturbances disappear.
Materials can form more evenly. Crystals can grow purer. Semiconductor structures can develop with fewer defects. The difference may be measured in microns, but the impact can be measured in performance.
Starlab is engineered to take full advantage of that environment.
Through its internal laboratory and external payload platforms, the station supports production and testing of ultra-pure crystals, advanced alloys and next-generation semiconductor materials
that are difficult or impossible to manufacture on Earth. These materials have the potential to improve everything from high-speed electronics and communications systems to advanced aerospace components and emerging quantum technologies.
AI-enabled monitoring adds another layer of capability. Manufacturing processes can be observed and adjusted in real time, helping commercial users improve yield, quality and consistency. By combining physical infrastructure with digital intelligence, Starlab moves microgravity manufacturing from one-off experiments toward repeatable industrial processes.
And the ecosystem supporting that work is already forming. Through Voyager’s VISTA science park ecosystem, companies developing space-enabled materials gain access to workforce pipelines, capital and commercialization expertise designed to help products reach real markets.
From Platform to Persistent Economy
Microgravity research is moving from occasional access to continuous availability. Manufacturing in space is moving from proof of concept to scalable production.
By combining a continuously crewed platform, advanced payload infrastructure, AI-enabled operations and a growing commercial ecosystem through VISTA, Starlab transforms microgravity from a niche research setting into a durable commercial economic domain.
The future of space will not be defined by who can reach orbit.
It will be defined by who can work there — continuously, reliably and at scale.
Starlab is built for that future.