[lumost]

There are a variety of reasons that space manufacturing could be a good idea from a physics standpoint. These typically range from availability of energy, limited need for environmental regulation provided byproducts don’t fall to earth, or do so at velocities which would destroy the compounds of concern, or availability of materials.

If an asteroid is captured, or large scale mining of the moon takes place - it would not make sense to ship raw materials to earth vs. final products.

Which gives us a rough roadmap for where this industry would go if it goes anywhere, we’d expect that manufacturing of gravity sensitive or highly toxic products would move to space first, followed by energy or resource intensive industries.

[HPsquared]

Or freaky biohazard stuff.

[lumost]

It might be cheaper to create a bio lab in space for high risk research than to actually run one on earth.

I’d imagine the regulatory requirements for maintaining the cdc labs are extreme.

[TheTxT]

As long as you don't have to send it up in a rocket that could explode in the atmosphere.

[klooney]

You can do gain-of-function research, but only in space.