Long-form research on the new space economy — regulation, commercial re-entry, in-orbit manufacturing, and clinical research in microgravity.
A synthesis of stakeholder interviews, regulatory analysis, and market signals on the emerging commercial re-entry and orbital manufacturing sector — with recommendations for governments, regulators, and industry preparing for the next decade.
Microgravity is quietly becoming a clinical research environment. This piece maps the trial designs, sample-return logistics, and IRB questions operators must solve before orbit-based studies scale.
As pharmaceutical research moves into orbit, jurisdictional gaps between the FDA, EMA, and space-treaty regimes leave a widening question: which regulator owns a drug crystallised on the ISS and returned to Earth?