The Greater Zurich Area is to become a European hub for commercial aerospace: the joint venture Starlab Space, headquartered in Houston in the US state of Texas, will establish a presence at the Switzerland Innovation Park Zurich. According to a press release, the relevant Memorandum of Understanding was signed on December 9 between Starlab Space GmbH (which is in the process of being founded), the Switzerland Innovation Park Zurich Foundation and the newly established Center for Space and Aviation Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

Starlab Space is a joint venture between Airbus, Voyager Space, MDA Space and the Mitsubishi Corporation. It is building the private, industry-driven Starlab space station. After the planned decommissioning of the International Space Station (ISS) in 2030, Starlab is not only intended to ensure a seamless continuation of research activities, but also to open up Low Earth Orbit to private companies. Under zero gravity conditions, it will be possible to develop higher quality products such as semiconductors and fibre optics, as well as medicines, human tissue from stem cells for transplants or tumour organoids for precision medicine.

According to the information, Starlab Switzerland could focus on areas such as biotechnology, biomedicine and pharmacology and set up a centre for the development and organisation of payloads. The company’s plans also envisage additional new sites in Japan and Germany.

In terms of the reasons as to why Starlab has decided to move to Innovation Park Zurich, the statement highlights access to an airfield, vast areas for the necessary infrastructure and strong research partners such as the University of Zurich and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. The establishment of the Center for Space and Aviation Switzerland and Liechtenstein, also based in the Innovation Park, and a strong economic performance in general in the Canton of Zurich and the Greater Zurich Area reportedly were also important pull factors in Starlab’s decision.

At the Open-i innovation conference, held in Zurich in November, the background to commercial space dynamics was one of the main topics. “Turnover in the space industry is expected to rise to 1.8 trillion dollars by 2035 and we are well prepared to drive innovation,” Markus Müller, Co-Head of Business and Economic Development for the Canton of Zurich, is quoted as saying.

Oliver Ullrich went into detail about the opportunities it opens up. According to the Director of the Space Hub at the University of Zurich, numerous projects on the ISS have generated enormous expertise in how weightlessness can be used as a tool. In space, for example, the production of fabrics is far more cost-effective and transport costs are falling. A downside is that production capacities are still lacking.

“However, the new space economy will provide us with these opportunities in the coming years. We are on the brink of a huge industrial revolution,” Oliver Ullrich affirmed.

Every year, Open-i brings the Swiss innovation community together, describing itself as the dialogue platform for the economy and the science sector. In 2025, the conference will once again take place in Zurich from 27 to 28 November. Like this year, the central theme will focus on how Switzerland can secure and expand its leading role in innovation. Open-i is organised by NZZ Connect, a branch of the NZZ based in Bern. The first hundred tickets are available until the end of the year with a 50 per cent early bird discount. ce/mm