Space as the normal workplace of the future
Published: Friday, Dec 13th 2024, 08:30
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According to space researcher Oliver Ullrich, in ten years' time, space may be as normal an economic area as the internet is today. The Swiss pharmaceutical industry in particular could benefit from this, said the Zurich-based professor.
In future, it will no longer just be data that is sent into orbit, but products manufactured "up there", as Ullrich said in an interview with Blick published on Friday. The researcher is head of the newly founded Center for Space and Aviation Switzerland and Liechtenstein (CSA) and Director of the Space Hub at the University of Zurich.
"Gravity on earth interferes with many production processes," said Ullrich. He cited the production of human tissue as an example. On Earth, it is a major challenge for the cells to arrange themselves correctly. "In space, this happens automatically," he said.
This would make it much easier to produce large quantities of organs for transplants from human stem cells in the future. "We have already been able to demonstrate this in practice on two ISS missions," said Ullrich. He sees great potential in the fields of pharmacy and biotechnology in particular.
"Normal workers"
He was also convinced that the professions working in space would become more diverse. Initially, the work would still be carried out by professional astronauts. Later, there will be specialists with shorter training "and also normal workers, so-called space workers, who work in production," said Ullrich.
The space researcher working in Zurich has literally moved closer to the space travel of the future with his work. The space station development company Starlab Space wants to set up shop in Dübendorf ZH. Starlab, the CSA and the Switzerland Innovation Park Zurich signed a letter of intent to this effect at the beginning of this week. The proximity to research partners at the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich was one of the reasons for the choice of location, according to a press release.
With the planned end of the International Space Station (ISS) in 2030, Starlab is to continue research and science as a private space station and open up low-Earth orbit for private companies, according to a press release.
©Keystone/SDA
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