Varda Space Industries Names Steve Layne CRO and Aaron Huber CFO

Elon Musk said in a September 13 post on X that he is highly confident Space Exploration Technologies Corp. will transport NVIDIA Corporation Vera Rubin NVL72 AI computers into orbit next year, reinforcing SpaceX's Starmind plan to build AI data centers in space. The first satellite, Starmind AI1, will carry a space-optimized version of NVIDIA's Vera Rubin NVL72 rack-scale system, with SpaceX targeting a fourth-quarter 2027 launch and substantial scale by 2028. Musk has argued that orbital solar power could make space the lowest-cost location for AI computing within two to three years, though Microsoft President Brad Smith has publicly questioned whether computation will actually move from the ground to low-Earth orbit. The plan depends on SpaceX's Starship rocket proving its launch frequency and reliability, and when Musk said in SpaceX's August earnings call that the company would build its future AI infrastructure exclusively on NVIDIA, NVDA shares rose more than 4% while SpaceX shares fell more than 10% before paring losses. According to some analyst models, SpaceX accounts for approximately 5% of NVIDIA's revenue, and hedge fund holdings in NVIDIA rose from 275 in the first quarter to 285 in the second, while 119 funds held stakes in SpaceX as of the second quarter.

Merck shares rose approximately 1.0% to $146.39 Thursday as the pharmaceutical and oncology heavyweight entered the next era of commercial space research, with its blockbuster cancer drug Keytruda already benefiting from work conducted in orbit. Research aboard the International Space Station helped scientists better understand protein crystallization, contributing to the development of a faster subcutaneous formulation of Keytruda, and NASA's research overview explains that microgravity can produce larger and more orderly protein crystals, potentially giving researchers clearer structural information. As the ISS approaches retirement, commercial stations could offer drugmakers dedicated equipment and more predictable research schedules, although regulators still lack a purpose-built approval framework for medicines manufactured in space. The commercial stakes are already enormous: Keytruda generated about $8.37 billion of Merck's latest $16.61 billion quarter, roughly half of total revenue, while the subcutaneous version contributed $463 million, or around 5.5% of Keytruda sales. At $146.39, Merck trades 21.85% above its GF Value estimate of $120.14, signaling that investors are already paying a meaningful premium to the model's estimate of fair value.

Redwire Corporation is expanding its microgravity capabilities beyond traditional space missions into scientific research, biotechnology and advanced manufacturing. The company has built a growing microgravity platform with 11 active payload facilities on the International Space Station as of Dec. 31, 2025, and has launched 42 Pharmaceutical In-space Laboratory – Bio-crystal Optimization eXperiment, or PIL-BOX, payloads. During 2025, Redwire entered a licensing agreement with ExesaLibero Pharma under which it is eligible to receive royalties from commercial sales of resulting pharmaceutical products. Bristol Myers Squibb and Eli Lilly have both partnered with Redwire on PIL-BOX missions to study pharmaceutical molecules and crystal growth in microgravity. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 and 2027 earnings per share suggests year-over-year growth of 57.32% and 40%, respectively, while Redwire trades at a forward 12-month price-to-sales of 4.92X versus an industry average of 2.29X.