Redwire Opens Microgravity Pharma Facility Two Hours From Eli Lilly

Redwire Corporation opened a 30,000-square-foot microgravity research and payload development facility at Novaparke in Georgetown, Floyd County, on July 20. The site houses a Payload Operations Control Center running ISS research in real time and is the operational home of SpaceMD, Redwire's microgravity biotech venture. Six of Redwire's eight current ISS platforms were developed in Floyd County, and the company has flown more than 50 pharmaceutical experiments for partners including Eli Lilly and Bristol Myers Squibb.

The commercial case is already proven: Merck's space-grown crystal research informed a subcutaneous Keytruda formulation that received FDA approval in 2025. Georgetown sits two hours south of Eli Lilly's Indianapolis headquarters, inside the biologics reformulation wave. The competitive picture is tightening, BioOrbit has already pulled two senior Redwire executives, Molly Mulligan and Ken Savin, into a direct rival, and Varda Space Industries closed a $187 million Series C in July 2025 with its first large pharma contract announced. Novaparke has 14 open lots. Cleanroom construction, precision fabrication, and life sciences support capacity are all in scope.