Swiss start-up SpacePharma has signed a contract with Swiss Space Systems (S3) to launch 28 satellites starting in 2018 for research in zero-gravity environments.
The canton Jura-based SpacePharma is seeking to become a world-leading research institution in the study of weightlessness and its impact on the body. Its satellites will serve as laboratory environments, offering companies and researchers the opportunity to conduct experiments in zero gravity.
«We are talking about a completely new industry,» Martin Aebi, the firm’s general manager, told swissinfo.ch.
«(Until now) it was complicated to go into a real micro-gravity environment – the only real option was to use the International Space Station (ISS), which is related to problems like cost and having to wait about three years to conduct an experiment there. Because space is becoming more and more public, especially through initiatives like S3, this opens a completely new field of opportunities.»
Aebi says some companies such as Merck, Pfizer and Nestlé have already conducted zero-gravity experiments through the ISS, which «shows the potential» of the field and its use as a standard research tool. And Aebi believes partnering with another Swiss company will be attractive to potential SwissPharma clients because of the flexibility and proximity it offers.
Under the contract, Swiss Space Systems will launch four satellites beginning in early 2018, followed by one per month over two years for a total of 28. Each satellite will weigh about five kilograms. Aebi declined to comment on further specifics such as the potential cost of the contract.
Spacepharma is a start-up company with 16 employees and a research and development arm based in Israel.
Swiss Space Systems, based in Payerne in canton Vaud, was founded in 2012 with the goal of launching small suborbital satellites weighing less than 250 kilograms. Its launch platform, known as SOAR – or Sub-Orbital Re-Usable Aircraft – is slated to be completed by the end of 2014.