When Voyager began developing Starlab, the company confronted a reality few were willing to say out loud.
A commercial space station cannot survive as a hardware project alone.
Governments fund hardware. They invest in platforms, modules and launch systems. But hardware does not create markets. Hardware does not guarantee utilization. And utilization — not construction — is what will determine whether the next generation of space infrastructure endures.
That realization led to the creation of VISTA.
The Voyager Institute for Space, Technology and Advancement is not a university partnership program. It is not a research consortium. It is not an outreach initiative.
It is a science park.
“Starlab had to be more than a hardware project,” said Jeffrey Manber, Special Representative to the Chairman and CEO at Voyager Technologies – who helpedpioneer the commercial space station model and now leads VISTA. “If it is going to be sustainable, you have to create the ecosystem that supports it. Hardware alone will not do that.”
For decades, science parks — also known as technology clusters or innovation zones — have served as engines of economic growth. Companies, universities and capital co-locate around a defined market focus. Workforce multiplies. Startups emerge. Research moves from lab bench to marketplace. Entire industries take root.
There are science parks dedicated to artificial intelligence, maritime technology, biotechnology and energy.
There has never been one dedicated to commercial in-space research and manufacturing.
Until now.
VISTA is the first U.S. science park designed specifically to anchor the emerging in-space economy. Its focus is singular: move space-enabled ideas from inception to marketplace and concentrate the companies, capital and expertise needed to sustain that movement.
“A science park is a proven business model,” Manber said. “It is a place staffed with experts who know how to take an idea from inception to marketplace. It creates an ecosystem where everyone benefits.”
The stakes are significant. As the International Space Station approaches retirement and commercial platforms prepare to take its place, sustainability is no longer theoretical. A commercial station will be supported by continuous research, manufacturing and services. The commercial space ecosystem must cultivate a steady pipeline of organizations prepared to develop, test and scale space-enabled products.
Space agencies may invest billions in hardware, but they invest a fraction of that in utilization. Without a deliberate commercialization engine, even the most advanced platform risks underuse.
VISTA is designed to ensure that does not happen.
Through dedicated hubs, Voyager is bringing together universities, companies, investors and regional leaders around one theme: in-space research, applications and manufacturing. The objective is not simply collaboration. It is commercialization at scale.
Each VISTA location is structured to attract organizations building products that will ultimately fly, from pharmaceuticals and advanced materials to robotics and next-generation manufacturing systems. By connecting workforce, capital and commercialization expertise in one coordinated ecosystem, the model lowers barriers to entry and accelerates participation.
When that alignment occurs, markets accelerate.
Universities gain a clear pathway from research to application. Companies gain access to talent and infrastructure. Regions attract new businesses and investment. Startups emerge. Workforce pipelines strengthen. Early participants help define standards and shape the emerging market.
“We want you to think of VISTA when you think of in-space research and applications,” said Manwei Chan, Director, International and Science Development at Voyager. “There is no science park in the United States dedicated to commercial space research and manufacturing. That is what we are building.”
VISTA is aligned with Starlab, but it extends beyond any single platform. It supports orbital operations, lunar initiatives and deep-space applications. It is the infrastructure behind the infrastructure — the commercialization engine that ensures hardware becomes an economy.
The rollout is deliberate and phased. Voyager plans expansion tied to budget milestones and ecosystem growth, with national, commercial and international dimensions. Interest is building across industry and government as organizations recognize the opportunity to help shape a new market from the ground up.
The urgency is real.
Nations are investing in technology clusters aligned with strategic priorities. Industrialbases are reorganizing around emerging markets. If the United States intends to lead in commercial space, it must build not only platforms in orbit, but ecosystems on the ground.
VISTA is Voyager’s answer.
It is entrepreneurial by design. It does not originate from a government RFP. It is not built around a single contract. It is built around a recognition that sustainable space infrastructure requires sustained economic gravity.
Commercial space will not be defined by hardware alone.
It will be defined by the ecosystems that sustain it.
VISTA is that ecosystem.