Drug Manufacturing: The Next Big Extraterrestrial Business?

California-based startup Varda Space Industries has launched its first test mission aboard a SpaceX rocket, with a 200-pound capsule designed to carry drug research into microgravity. The company hopes to scale its business rapidly, sending regular flights of satellites into orbit stuffed with experiments on behalf of pharmaceutical companies. The goal is to create key components of pharmaceuticals while in microgravity, which could lead to better, more effective drugs.