Success at the ISS with ESA's support
- Erin Lear Loughan
- Jun 24
- 1 min read
“Melt and Form in Microgravity” (MFM) is a space-based manufacturing service offered by Flawless Photonics. It utilizes microgravity aboard the International Space Station (ISS) to process specialty glasses—including melting, forming, and drawing them—in ways that aren’t achievable on Earth. Flawless Photonics is the first company to be able to do this successful- thanks to companies like ESA(European Space Agency).
Flawless Photonic's Mission & Reach
Aim: revolutionize fiber optics by eliminating gravity-induced imperfections in optical glass.
Applications include telecommunications, defense, medical, sensing, and quantum technologies.
Markets its space-manufactured product under the name SpaceFiber™.
ESA has been instrumental in the further success of Flawless Photonics.
🌐 ESA’s Digital Hub
The BSGN operates via a dedicated "one-stop-shop" digital platform, acting as a gateway for industry to discover opportunities, meet partners, get funding, propose payloads, and learn more about space-based commercial potential.
📈 Why It Matters
It marks a strategic shift: moving from state-only to market-driven space activity, enabling sectors like healthcare, manufacturing, agri-tech, and materials science to innovate in microgravity or space environments.
Examples of supported endeavors include:
The Flawless Photonics fiber-drawing service
The Horus neurotech project in life sciences
Sophie's BioNutrients exploring microalgae-based alternative proteins in space.
✅ Summary
The MFM service empowers fabrication of advanced glass products—especially optical fibers—in a microgravity environment, achieving results unattainable on Earth. With proven success aboard the ISS and a growing set of applications, it's poised to open new frontiers in high-performance, space-enabled photonics manufacturing.
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