The commercial space economy is accelerating to meet the growing demands from both the government and commercial sector. Microgravity applications are expanding across industries that once had no connection to space, from pharmaceuticals and advanced materials to climate sensing, semiconductors, AI and national-security technologies. Demand is rising not just for access to orbit, but for the ability to move ideas through a full lifecycle, from concept, validation and flight readiness to execution in low Earth orbit and beyond.
Since the onset of the International Space Station this maturation has not been matched by a professional incubator system to nurture new microgravity projects. As a result, the industry has lacked a true pipeline for that journey. Most companies must invent the process on their own, stitching together university collaborations, contract manufacturing, regulatory navigation and mission integration. The result has been a slow progress, fragmented access, and barriers that prevent new entrants from participating in the space economy at all.
What’s missing is an ecosystem that brings together capital sources and functional expertise with researchers from large and small companies, government agencies and universities.
The Voyager Institute for Space, Technology and Advancement (VISTA) provides this space-based manufacturing and research support network.
VISTA is the first science park in the United States devoted to the in-space community, whether civil, commercial or national security. The intent is to stimulate the pipeline for space stations, but also for all recoverable in-space platforms and lunar missions.
The science park is set up to be a national innovation ecosystem designed to support innovators where they are. A research group with an early-stage idea can mature it into a flight-ready payload. A startup can use VISTA to establish a U.S. presence while developing its systems in collaboration with faculty. A global company can join the network to accelerate its entry into the American space market. Science parks are a proven business model for translating research ideas into market products.
VISTA is designed to be open, flexible and accessible, lowering barriers to entry for companies that previously lacked a clear pathway into the space economy. And companies, startups, international partners and university labs are already entering the ecosystem to prepare their technologies for orbit.
Developing the Commercial Space Ecosystem
VISTA’s anchor hub is The Ohio State University, one of the nation’s most powerful engines of research and translational science. As the anchor, OSU provides the depth, scale and academic capability that commercial space companies require to innovate quickly. Its strengths in engineering, aerospace systems, advanced manufacturing, materials science and life sciences make it an ideal foundation for a space innovation network designed to serve both domestic and international markets. We have begun pre-construction on the first facility on the OSU campus, and in total have the rights to almost 80 acres of land. A temporary facility is now housing almost a dozen companies.
With OSU, Voyager created a launchpad where companies can co-develop research, access advanced facilities, collaborate with faculty and students, and test concepts before turning them into flight-ready payloads. It is not just an academic partnership. It is a commercial engine that expands the reach of space-enabled research and development across industry sectors that have not previously had a clear pathway to orbit.
Voyager is building a distributed network, with different regions specializing in the capabilities that will define the next era of commercial space and now includes the University of North Dakota and the University of Connecticut. These are two institutions whose capabilities and strategic locations strengthen the entire ecosystem.
The University of North Dakota brings deep heritage in human spaceflight operations, astronautics, spacesuit development and crewed mission simulation. UND’s long-standing leadership in human spaceflight training and planetary analogue environments provides VISTA with a unique operational perspective rooted in decades of preparing humans for space.
The University of Connecticut reinforces the network with its strengths in materials science, advanced sensors and manufacturing. These are some of the most commercially promising areas for microgravity. UConn’s capabilities make it an ideal partner for companies looking to validate materials, develop hardware, or translate laboratory concepts into flight-qualified systems.
Internationally, VISTA is partnered with Zurich Innovation Park in Switzerland, and VISTA is building partnerships in Japan.
Voyager spans the entire continuum
What makes VISTA uniquely valuable is its connection to Voyager’s full operational ecosystem, backed by decades of ISS mission management experience, managing more than 1,400 missions to the ISS.
Voyager handles the preparation for flight, including payload integration, requirements development, safety processes and on-orbit mission operations. The team can manifest across platforms, from the ISS to Starlab – the next generation commercial space station.
There is no other organization that spans this entire continuum. VISTA is the spark. Voyager is the engine. And space platforms, from stations to free fliers, are the destinations. Together, they create the first seamless pipeline for commercial space activity, capable of taking an idea conceived in a university lab or startup incubator and turning it into a real mission in orbit.
To grow a sustainable commercial space economy, the world needs VISTA’s ecosystem.
The future of the commercial space economy begins long before a payload reaches orbit. It begins at VISTA, and it is open for business today.