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Beyond the ISS: leaders look to the future of commercial LEO platforms. June 16, 2026 - By Amelia Williamson Smith, Sr. Manager, Scientific Communications & Content This article is part of a series highlighting sessions from the ISS National Lab track at the 2026 ASCEND conference in Washington, D.C. The ISS National Lab hosted a full day of programming highlighting advances in space-based R&D, how the ISS National Lab enables innovation in orbit, and the growing low Earth orbit economy. As the retirement of the International Space Station (ISS) approaches, attention is turning to the future of research and technology development in low Earth orbit (LEO). A session at the 2026 ASCEND conference gathered leaders from across the space industry to discuss how the ISS National Laboratory(R) has helped lay the groundwork for commercial space stations and what is needed to ensure a robust LEO economy in the post-ISS era. "We all recognize there are tremendous opportunities for new avenues of commercialization that we've barely scratched the surface of to date on the ISS," said Lucie Low, chief science officer at Axiom Space, which is developing a commercial space station. "Through the ISS National Lab, we've had this incredible opportunity to do proof-of-concept studies to start getting data." Research on the ISS has driven strong demand for access to space, but the current ecosystem remains nascent. "It's a brittle environment," said Marchel Holle, director of civil space at Varda Space Industries, which is developing autonomous free-flying spacecraft for microgravity R&D and manufacturing. "We would not be where we are without the foundational science, the legacy of the ISS, but we're now seeing a kind of winnowing of microgravity opportunities." When that happens, scientists leave the field, grants are not funded, and companies lose runway, he explained. "Without having a ready access to both crewed and uncrewed facilities, a diversity of platforms, we're not going to see the space economy that I think we all really desperately want." LambdaVision CEO Nicole Wagner - who has conducted nine ISS investigations over the last decade to improve the company's artificial retinas - agrees that sustained access to space is critical. "If we don't keep funding things in space or [keep] underfunding it, you're not maturing the technologies enough to see what's really there, and they're sort of dying on the vine." Addressing recent questions about whether the LEO economy has emerged, Holle emphasized that a strong market exists and the business case closes. He pointed to Varda's recent partnership with United Therapeutics, a $25 billion NASDAQ-listed pharmaceutical company, to manufacture pharmaceuticals in space and noted this is just the beginning. "The key is really bridging into the pharmaceutical industry and having the cadence and the repeat shots on goal needed to speak their language," he said. "We think there are subsets of molecules that have large addressable markets that would really improve the clinical benefit to people here on Earth and that people would be willing to pay for." The panel also discussed the role of an entity like the ISS National Lab after the space station is retired. Michelle Lucas, founder and CEO of Higher Orbits, a nonprofit that enables students to send real experiments to space, stressed that such a role remains "absolutely critical." Without it, researchers, organizations, and small businesses risk losing access to space, she said. "We need a broker...who looks out for the little guys to help aid companies that could develop the next big thing...and organizations developing the workforce pipeline." Ensuring students have continued access to space is essential to building a strong and capable workforce for the future LEO economy, Lucas explained. "You have to invest in your workforce right now, and one of the ways to do that is to give them experiences that inspire them to want to continue." She noted, "Their science may not change the world, but it changes their world, and there's a ripple effect...and it's going to inspire them to go on and do better research." Looking beyond the ISS, panelists see a place for both crewed and uncrewed platforms in LEO. Automation will be important, but humans need to stay in the loop, Low said. "From an R&D perspective, continuous human presence in space is going to be really critical for continuing to build on the science that can be done." Holle agreed there's a strong rationale for maintaining humans in orbit but added that automated platforms offer a more cost-effective solution for certain types of research. The key is incorporating both, he said. "By turning to these diversified models with complementary crewed and free flyers working together, I think you create a dissimilar partnership that's greater than the sum of both components." As the ISS era winds down, one message from the panel was clear: maintaining momentum will require continuity in access, sustained funding, and a diversity of platforms. By building on the strong foundation established over the past two decades, ISS National Lab can help ensure a robust and sustainable future for the LEO economy.

Pharmaceutical companies are increasingly turning to lower Earth orbit for drug development, capitalising on zero gravity conditions that enable complex chemical processes impossible on Earth. Morgan Stanley predicts the space economy could exceed $1 trillion by 2040, with medicine poised for immediate disruption. SpaceMD, a subsidiary of space technology company ire, has flown 54 specialised micro-laboratories to crystallise proteins in orbit and tested 37 drug compounds. Zero gravity produces more uniform, higher-quality crystals, making drugs easier to administer through thinner, painless injections rather than hospital infusions. Merck pioneered space pharma in 2014, using International Space Station experiments to develop an injectable version of cancer drug Keytruda that secured FDA approval in 2025. Varda Space Industries is developing autonomous manufacturing satellites, whilst UK regulators are establishing pathways to market for space-manufactured medicines.

SpaceX's next big business could be building stuff in space. June 3, 2026 SpaceX is getting ready to test reentry vehicles that could be used for in-orbit manufacturing, tapping into a potentially lucrative industry that's slowly gaining momentum. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved test flights of SpaceX's Starfall, an uncrewed capsule designed to perform research and development in the microgravity environment, as well as provide point-to-point cargo delivery. SpaceX has shared little information about Starfall, but recent FAA documents reveal some new details about the ongoing project. An early look at Starfall. Bloomberg first reported on the Starfall program last year, describing plans to use SpaceX's Starship rocket to launch the capsules and develop commercial products, like pharmaceutical components, in space. Based on the FAA documents, the capsules are shaped like a disk measuring 10.2 feet (3.1 meters) wide and 2.5 feet (0.75 meters) tall. They are made of an aluminum top plate and a carbon-fiber heat shield to protect the payload during reentry. The capsules will be able to carry up to 2,205 pounds (1,000 kilograms) worth of payloads each within a volume of 8.2 by 4.9 by 1.6 feet (2.5 by 1.5 by 0.5 meters). SpaceX plans on using either its Falcon 9 or Starship rocket to launch the capsules to orbit. The capsules will complete reentry using a single main parachute, along with pilot and drogue parachutes, while the heat shield jettisons off before splashdown. The FAA approved two reentries of the Starfall capsules into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. Once the capsules splash down, SpaceX teams will recover them from the water. New business. While the FAA documents do not state when the test flights are set to take place or mention follow-up missions, the agency describes "a mass producible reentry vehicle." SpaceX plans on making Starfall operational by the end of the decade, according to the Bloomberg report. With Starfall, SpaceX would add in-orbit manufacturing to its business portfolio. The idea of in-orbit manufacturing has been around for decades, using the microgravity environment to manufacture materials that would otherwise be impossible to produce on Earth. California-based startup Varda Space Industries is currently pioneering the in-orbit manufacturing industry. Varda has flown six of its W-series in-space manufacturing capsules to Earth orbit and recently signed a deal with a pharmaceutical company to explore developing new, improved versions of its drugs in space. The industry, however, is still in its infancy. SpaceX is not only developing its own capsules, but it also has a major advantage over competitors thanks to its fleet of rockets, which gives the company easy access to orbit. Varda, on the other hand, relies on SpaceX to launch its W-series capsules. Although still in the beginning phases of development, Starfall has the potential to make a big splash with its reentry. RECENT PRESS RELEASES June 3, 2026