Space Tango unveil their autonomous, robotic space based manufacturing platform
The benefits of manufacturing products in space are clear, but it's still complex and expensive, this technology could help make space based manufacturing a commercial reality.
Key takeaways
- Set to launch sometime in the middle of the next decade, the company’s ST-42 platform takes advantage of new orbital manufacturing techniques that were first developed and mastered on the International Space Station (ISS).
- According to the company, the unmanned ST-42 will be used on a series of missions to orbit and then return to Earth.
- Space Tango hopes that ST-42 will not only help to develop a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) industrial sector worth billions, but also help advance all space based manufacturing endeavours.
Cite or link to this article
Griffin, M. (2018) 'Space Tango unveil their autonomous, robotic space based manufacturing platform', 311 Institute, 6 December. Available at: https://www.311institute.com/space-tango-unveil-their-autonomous-robotic-space-based-manufacturing-platform/ (Accessed: 8 October 2026).
Over the past year or so I’ve been seeing more and more references made to not just space based manufacturing, but autonomous robotic space based manufacturing, with even the world’s richest Man Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, announcing recently that he wants to move heavy industry off Earth with his space exploration company Blue Origin. And now, thanks to recent advances in commercial spaceflight, which means private companies can send more equipment into orbit orders of magnitude cheaper than ever before, for example, thanks to Elon Musk’s SpaceX reusable rocket technology, a company called Space Tango has announced that it’s developing its own “autonomous, robotic orbital platform that will use microgravity to produce a range of items,” from materials to medicines, for a range of industries.
Set to launch sometime in the middle of the next decade, the company’s ST-42 platform takes advantage of new orbital manufacturing techniques that were first developed and mastered on the International Space Station (ISS).
Though commercial spaceflight has been around for some time, it's been largely confined to building spacecraft, delivering payloads to and from orbit, or gathering data, such as real time global video surveillance, and real time radio tracking, that can be sold to customers. However, weightlessness, the ability to control the environment, and the other unique properties of space hold the potential for jump starting a whole new industrial revolution, something that wasn’t lost on a team from Australia recently when they had to sky dive from a plane to test the effect of gravity on the growth of Metal Organic Framework (MOF) materials that could hold the key to producing clean energy from fossil fuels, and revolutionising healthcare…
Since its deployment the 15 partners that run the ISS have conducted hundreds of experiments aimed at progressing the development of new “orbital industries,” as they’re becoming known, and now Space Tango is looking to take the next step of creating products for the biomedical and other technology enterprises using their own small-scale autonomous orbiting factory.
According to the company, the unmanned ST-42 will be used on a series of missions to orbit and then return to Earth. Early missions will be used to study technology applications and materials production, but later biomedical missions will adhere to the US FDA Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) regulations governing items made for patient therapeutics.
Space Tango hopes that ST-42 will not only help to develop a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) industrial sector worth billions, but also help advance all space based manufacturing endeavours.
"With our TangoLab product line on the ISS, Space Tango has begun to pinpoint the applications and understand the unit economics of building high value products in microgravity for Earth," said Twyman Clements, president and CEO of Space Tango. "This platform [ST-42] is the logical extension of this work and will create a new category of capabilities for LEO commercialisation in the space economy. Our experienced team has crafted not only a vision for the future of manufacturing in space but procedures, partnerships and tangible plans for executing ST-42."
Source: Space Tango
What this means for your organisation
Cheaper launch changes the economics.
Private companies can now send more equipment into orbit far more cheaply than before, helped by reusable rockets. That makes factories in orbit a practical idea rather than a distant one. Leaders should treat launch cost as a variable that keeps falling.
Medicines are the first target.
ST-42 will start with technology and materials missions. Later biomedical missions will follow US FDA Current Good Manufacturing Practice rules for patient therapeutics. Health and materials firms should watch which products prove worth making in microgravity.
Low Earth Orbit becomes an industrial site.
Space Tango hopes ST-42 will help build a Low Earth Orbit industrial sector worth billions. Its work on the International Space Station supplies the know-how. Firms that wait for a finished market may find the early partnerships already taken.
Three questions for your next leadership meeting
- Which of our products could gain from being made in microgravity?
- Who in our sector is already testing work on the International Space Station?
- What would we need to do to meet FDA rules for orbit-made goods?
The trends and technologies behind this story
From the 311 Starburst, the 311 Strategic Intelligence Unit’s map of the technologies and trends shaping the next 50 years.
Analysis by the 311 Strategic Intelligence Unit, from Matthew Griffin’s article and 311 data. First published on Fanatical Futurist.
FAQ
Why does this matter?
The benefits of manufacturing products in space are clear, but it's still complex and expensive, this technology could help make space based manufacturing a commercial reality.
About the author
Matthew Griffin Founder, President and Futurist, 311 Institute
Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath."
Read full bio
Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath." 17-time best selling author of the "Codex of the Future" series, Matthew is the Founder, President and Futurist of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm working with royal households, world leaders, G7, G20, and G77 governments, NGOs, and multi-national mid and mega cap firms to help them explore, shape, and lead the next 50 years of business and society.
An award-winning YouTube creator with over a million followers, with an unrivalled global reach and impact, Matthew is a highly sought-after international keynote speaker, lecturer, and mentor who collaborates with global leaders through the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to shape pivotal initiatives such as the UN’s AI for Humanity programme, the United Nations Conference of the Parties (UN COP), and the World Economic Forum in Davos.
As the former Global Head of Cloud, National Security, and Enterprise Sales for companies including Atos, Dell-EMC, and IBM, Matthew has a proven track record of building multi-billion dollar business units and turning failing divisions into market leaders. His ability to identify, analyse, and communicate the implications of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends is unparalleled, and his insights are trusted by many of the world’s most respected organisations, including ABB, Accenture, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi, Coca-Cola, Dentons, Deloitte, Dow Jones, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, Siemens AG and Siemens Energy, T-Mobile, UBS, VISA, Walmart, Workday, Worldpay and many others.
Regularly featured in the global media including the AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, Forbes, Khaleej Times, Telegraph, TIME, ViacomCBS, WIRED, and the WSJ, Matthews mission is to help organisations create a fair and sustainable future whose benefits are shared by everyone irrespective of their ability, background, or circumstances.
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Sources and further reading
- Space Tango spacetango.com
- International Space Station newatlas.com
- Space tango unveils st 42 for scalable manufacturing in space for earth based applications spacetango.com
Source: first published by the 311 Institute on 6 December 2018. Cite as: Griffin, M. (2018). Space Tango unveil their autonomous, robotic space based manufacturing platform. 311 Institute. https://www.311institute.com/space-tango-unveil-their-autonomous-robotic-space-based-manufacturing-platform/
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