What it Takes to Build a Space Economy

Building a thriving space economy is often discussed in terms of rockets, satellites, and infrastructure. But according to Danielle Rosales, Director of Business Development for Technologies at Space Tango, the true foundation of a sustainable space economy may lie somewhere less obvious: public trust.

Speaking at spaceNEXT 2026, Rosales presented a new perspective on how emerging industries—particularly those involving microgravity manufacturing and healthcare—can successfully transition from research experiments to real-world economic activity.

Her talk explored a central question: how do we build confidence in products and services developed in space?

Microgravity as a platform for discovery

Space Tango specializes in enabling research and manufacturing in microgravity, where the physics governing biological and chemical systems behaves differently than on Earth.

In microgravity, forces such as buoyancy, convection, and sedimentation change dramatically. These differences allow scientists to study biological processes and develop technologies that may be impossible to create in terrestrial environments.

To date, Space Tango has helped launch more than 300 payloads to the International Space Station, supporting research in areas ranging from materials science to biomedical innovation. Some projects have also flown on suborbital missions, with future work extending to deeper space platforms.

One upcoming example includes an organ-on-chip experiment scheduled for Artemis II, highlighting the growing role of space in biomedical research.

But Rosales emphasized that scientific discovery alone does not automatically translate into a functioning economy.

The missing ingredient: trust

For many space-based applications—particularly those involving healthcare—success depends on whether people trust the products created in orbit.

A therapy developed in microgravity, for example, must still pass through regulatory approval, safety validation, and market adoption on Earth.

Consumers and patients must feel confident that these products are safe, reliable, and worth their potentially higher cost.

Rosales’ research examined how trust, engagement, and risk perception influence whether individuals are willing to support products developed in space.

Studying public willingness

As part of her doctoral research, Rosales conducted a study involving 642 participants, analyzing how different factors influence attitudes toward space-enabled healthcare products.

Her findings highlighted three major drivers of economic adoption.

Trust drives adoption

The strongest predictor of willingness to support space-manufactured products was trust in the technology and the institutions behind it.

Participants were more willing to support—or even pay a premium for—products developed in space when they trusted the scientific processes, regulatory oversight, and organizations responsible for them.

Institutions such as NASA, the NIH, and the National Science Foundation play an important role in establishing that credibility.

In other words, people are willing to embrace space-enabled products—but only when they understand how they are developed and validated.

Engagement builds economic openness

The second key factor was public engagement with space itself.

Individuals who actively followed space missions, participated in educational programs, or paid attention to developments in the industry were significantly more likely to support space-based innovation.

This finding suggests that outreach and public education are not simply communication efforts—they are essential economic drivers.

The more people feel connected to space exploration, the more open they are to supporting the industries that grow from it.

Risk perception limits adoption

The third factor influencing willingness was perceived risk.

Even when products are safe and scientifically validated, higher prices or unfamiliar production methods can increase perceived risk for consumers.

For space-manufactured products, which may carry higher production costs due to launch and orbital operations, managing this perception becomes critical.

Mitigating risk therefore requires more than technical validation—it requires transparency, clear communication, and accessible data.

Designing trust into the system

For companies working in microgravity manufacturing, Rosales argued that trust should be treated as a core element of product design rather than an afterthought.

That means building systems that emphasize repeatability, transparency, and traceability across the entire production process.

At Space Tango, this philosophy has guided the development of new platforms such as Studio, a modular research and manufacturing system designed for use aboard the International Space Station and other future orbital destinations.

These systems aim to provide researchers with consistent experimental conditions while ensuring that data and results remain transparent and reproducible.

From discovery to industry

Microgravity research has already demonstrated that space can enable new scientific discoveries.

The next step is transforming those discoveries into scalable industries—from pharmaceuticals and biologics to advanced materials.

Achieving that transition will require more than technological innovation.

It will require building a system where scientists, regulators, investors, and the public all have confidence in the products being created in orbit.

Engineering confidence in the space economy

As Rosales concluded during her presentation, the future of the space economy will depend on more than infrastructure or launch cadence.

It will depend on whether people trust the outcomes produced in space.

Building that trust—from early research through manufacturing and product adoption—may ultimately be one of the most important challenges facing the next generation of space industries.