microgravity-manufacturing
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Stef Crum
Stef Crum is the CEO and co-founder of Reditus Space, an Atlanta aerospace startup building reusable spacecraft that return payloads from orbit so companies can manufacture in microgravity. A Georgia Tech PhD in space systems engineering who worked on orbital operations and reentry with NASA and the Space Force, Crum started Reditus with classmate Will Sherman after Georgia Tech's Create-X program, went through Y Combinator's Winter 2025 batch, raised a $7.1 million seed round, and was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 Transportation and Aerospace list in 2026. His pitch is blunt: the innovation isn't getting to orbit, it's coming back.
Varda Space Industries
Varda Space Industries builds spacecraft that manufacture materials in microgravity and bring them back to Earth inside autonomous reentry capsules. The El Segundo company is best known for crystallizing pharmaceuticals in orbit - it grew crystals of the HIV drug ritonavir on its first mission - and for selling its capsules as hypersonic test platforms to the U.S. government. With its W-series vehicles, Varda is trying to turn low Earth orbit into a working factory floor and a routine, high-cadence delivery service back to the planet's surface.