Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture between the Thales Group and Leonardo, and Space Cargo Unlimited (SCU) signed a first phase contract to produce REV1—the first ever floating space factory—along with opening an SCU subsidiary in Turin, Italy.

Thales Alenia will be overseeing the design, development, and construction of REV1 while SCU will be the owner and commercial operator of the vehicle. 

REV1, a pressurized space vehicle designed to be reusable for a total of 20 missions, is expected to provide space for specific missions in the fields of biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, and new materials. It is slated to launch in late 2025 and will spend 2–3 months in space at a time.

Founded in 2014, Space Cargo Unlimited plans to be a commercial operator of a fleet of autonomous space cargo vehicles, while seeking to exploit the microgravity in space for earth-based commercial applications.