BY NEIL EISBERG
US specialist in microgravity R&D, Redwire has opened a new state-of-the-art, vertically-integrated research and microgravity payload development facility in Georgetown, Indiana. The facility will serve as a global hub to expand its capabilities in space-enabled research, development, and manufacturing with a focus on pharmaceutical/biotech innovation.
Located at the Novaparke Innovation & Technology Campus, the facility features advanced engineering and scientific laboratories as well as its Payload Operations Control Center. The Center oversees all science and research operations on the International Space Station (ISS) in real-time. The facility also serves as a key operational site for Space Microgravity Development (SpaceMD), Redwire’s venture company focused on using the microgravity environment to create new innovations in biotech and other fields.
‘The new Georgetown facility serves as the cornerstone of Redwire’s ability to scale, support major programs around the world, and help shape the expanding orbital economy that will drive the future of space development while benefiting millions here on Earth,’ says Mike Gold, president, Redwire Space.
Redwire has flown hundreds of experiments on crewed systems from the Space Shuttle to the ISS. The company has been involved in biotechnology and pharmaceutical development, as well as innovations in material from fibreoptics to semiconductors.
Meanwhile, UK start-up, Mass Balance has launched a miniature lab, described as an ‘autonomous orbital lab’, into Earth orbit to research proteins involved in Alzheimer’s disease. The proof-of-concept mission, designated MB-X1 was carried on a satellite, produced by an Austrian company, Tumbleweed, and launched in the US from the Vandenberg Space Force base in California.
The focus of the research will be on the amyloid beta and tau proteins which accumulate in plaques and so-called ‘tangles’ surrounding brain cells, disrupting neurotransmitters and the passing of signals between brain cells. These proteins are considered ‘disordered proteins’, which are constantly folding and unfolding. So far, no drugs have been discovered that can bind to these proteins for elimination.
On Earth, these disordered proteins are affected by convection currents, which disorganise them causing constant changes in their shapes, while sedimentation means the proteins settle and aggregate. In space, under microgravity these transient shape changes happen slowly, and no sedimentation occurs, allowing the longer studies that are needed to develop potential therapies.
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