LambdaVision Advances Space-Based Manufacturing With Its First Mission Beyond the ISS

Upcoming October mission with Helogen marks LambdaVision’s first flight beyond the International Space Station and advances the company’s path toward future commercial operations in low-Earth-orbit (LEO)

WOODBRIDGE, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--LambdaVision, a pre-clinical-stage biotech advancing on-Earth and microgravity bioprocesses, today announced an upcoming mission with Helogen Corporation to deepen its knowledge of the space-based properties of the protein used in LambdaVision’s artificial retina. Scheduled to launch in October 2026, the mission will mark LambdaVision’s first flight beyond the International Space Station (ISS) and an essential next step in the company’s strategy to expand its microgravity research beyond the ISS and evaluate new platforms that could support its long-term commercial strategy in LEO.

“After nine missions to the International Space Station, this mission represents a significant expansion of our work in microgravity,” said Nicole Wagner, Ph.D., CEO of LambdaVision. “Working with Helogen gives us the opportunity to test our protein on an autonomous orbital platform beyond the ISS for the first time. Through this work, we can begin establishing additional quality controls for evaluating our protein on orbit and build on the knowledge gained through our ISS missions as we continue advancing the technology toward patients.”

The mission builds on LambdaVision’s nine trips to the ISS, which have advanced the company’s understanding of how proteins behave in space, demonstrated the production of 200-layer protein thin films in space, and progressed microgravity manufacturing processes and hardware. As the ISS approaches retirement and new commercial stations and autonomous orbital platforms emerge, LambdaVision is working to establish multiple pathways for continued research and manufacturing in microgravity.

“LambdaVision is exactly the type of customer HEL-IOS was built to support: a company that has demonstrated the value of microgravity and is now ready to move toward repeatable commercial production,” said Shishir Bankapur, CEO of Helogen. “This mission is about taking the next step from research to manufacturing by providing the autonomous infrastructure, process controls and operational capabilities needed to produce high-value biomaterials consistently in orbit."

The mission will leverage Helogen’s autonomous HEL-IOS orbital manufacturing platform to test and characterize bacteriorhodopsin, the light-activated protein used in LambdaVision’s artificial retina, using an onboard spectrometer developed by Helogen for use in LEO. The mission will allow LambdaVision to evaluate its protein in orbit and gather data that can help inform future quality-control approaches in microgravity.

Microgravity offers unique advantages for the layer-by-layer manufacturing process used to produce LambdaVision’s artificial retina. On Earth, gravity-driven effects such as sedimentation and convection can affect protein deposition and the homogeneity of multilayer thin films. In microgravity, these forces are reduced, providing an environment that can improve the consistency, orientation and stability of thin-film production.

LambdaVision’s artificial retina is a small, flexible implant composed of alternating layers of the light-activated protein bacteriorhodopsin and a polymer. The technology is designed to replace the function of damaged photoreceptor cells and restore meaningful vision for patients with retinal degenerative diseases, including retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

About LambdaVision

LambdaVision is leveraging space to develop a protein-based artificial retina to restore meaningful vision for the millions of patients blinded by retinal degenerative diseases, including retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The patent-protected artificial retina technology developed by LambdaVision uses photoactive proteins to naturally mimic the light-absorbing properties of human photoreceptor cells and activate neuroreceptors still present in degenerated retinas of blind patients. LambdaVision’s artificial retina is one of the first technologies being evaluated on the International Space Station that has potential for clinical use, and the established microgravity manufacturing processes, quality control methods, and laboratory techniques provide a foundation for future clinical research in space. To learn more, visit lambdavision.com.

About Helogen Corporation

Helogen Corporation is an American company that builds factories in space to manufacture advanced materials and products that benefit from microgravity. The company has flown its own satellite, won NASA’s 2025 TechLeap Prize, and is advancing toward regulated production of space-manufactured biomaterials. Helogen operates its manufacturing and engineering center in Los Angeles and its life sciences laboratory in New York, and is deploying infrastructure in orbit at increasing scale to turn space into a manufacturing hub. For more information, visit www.helogen.com.