© Tim Morizet / RTL
Luxembourg is supporting start-up Space Cargo Unlimited in Foetz to develop Europe's first space factory, with EU funding and projects ranging from pharmaceuticals to fibre optics that could achieve far higher performance in zero gravity.
Manufacturing products in space, once the stuff of science fiction, is now becoming a tangible industry. Luxembourg is playing a key role in this development: with European support and fresh investment, the country is helping to turn the vision of a space factory into reality.
The idea of producing in orbit is not new. But cheaper rocket launches and new technologies have opened the door to what many are calling a new era: the age of the "space factory".
Space Cargo Unlimited
In Foetz, French aerospace entrepreneur Nicolas Gaume is setting up a new centre with Space Cargo Unlimited to establish Europe's first cargo transporter. As CEO of the company, he explained that zero gravity makes it possible to create products that cannot be made on Earth, ranging from pharmaceuticals to electronics, new materials, and even agricultural innovations.
He added that more than 80 projects are currently underway, with around 40 percent linked to the pharmaceutical sector. Among them are Luxembourg start-ups such as ExoBiosphere, as well as companies developing high-performance fibre optics like Flowless Photonics, and firms testing advanced electronic equipment, he explained.
Bento Box
At the centre of the current work is the "Bento Box", a compact manufacturing module scheduled to be launched twice into orbit by SpaceX in the coming months. This container can carry up to 100 kilograms of material, enabling experiments in space and returning finished products to Earth, such as improved fibre optics.
Achim Schwarzwaelder of Space Cargo Unlimited explained why fibre optics are particularly suited to space production. He said that on Earth, fibres often contain many impurities, but in weightlessness the result is a far purer thread. He noted that this reduces the number of repeaters needed, minimises signal loss, and allows frequencies to be increased. Performance, he said, can improve by as much as a factor of 200 compared to terrestrial production.
EU support
The initiative is also receiving strong backing from the European Union, with €12.5 million in funding from the European Innovation Council. In total, the company has raised €27.5 million to date.
Luxembourg's Economy Minister, Lex Delles, highlighted that this project shows how the country's space industry is developing in very concrete terms. He noted that the venture would create more than 30 jobs in Luxembourg and underlined the importance of collaboration between companies as part of building a strong national ecosystem.
From vision to industrialisation: what so recently sounded like science fiction may soon become reality, with Luxembourg firmly at the heart of the effort.
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