HELLO FUTURE: We Can Harvest Organs in Space

In this episode, Kevin Cirilli welcomes Max Haot, CEO of Vast, to explore how space could change the future of medicine — and even life itself. As Haven-1 nears launch, Vast and its partners are preparing to conduct cutting-edge biomedical experiments in orbit, from stem-cell research to growing human organs in microgravity. Without Earth’s pull, cells form more complex structures — opening the door to breakthroughs in regenerative medicine, cancer treatment, and tissue engineering. Kevin and Max discuss why the first commercial space station might double as the world’s most advanced biotech lab, how collaboration with NASA and Redwire Space is shaping this new frontier, and what happens when humanity learns not just to live — but to heal — in space.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
A lot of people don't realize that up in outer space,
where gravity is just a little bit different, you can
get potentially very dramatic scientific results that can help cure
diseases and also help a massive problem that humans are
suffering from right now, which is an organ donor shortage.

(00:28):
Hello Future, It's me keV and this is a dispatch
from the Digital Frontier. The planet is Earth. The year
is twenty twenty five. My name is Kevin's really, founder
of MTF dot TVs, Meet the Future Platform. My guest
today is CEO of VAST, which is a private space company.
They are building the replacement to International Space Station. They're
going to have their own private space stations in outer space.

(00:48):
Max hout Is, the CEO's been a guest on the
show before, and I'm thrilled to have them back. Max.
You and I have gotten to know each other over
the last couple of months, and one of the things
that I deeply respect about you is that you always
have humans lives in mind. And you blew my mind
when we met for the first time and you were
talking to me about three D printing organs up in

(01:09):
outer space, and I'm thinking to myself, Wow, I didn't
know that. I didn't realize that you could three D
printed organ because of something with gravity. It's way above
my pay grade. Max. You are way smarter than I
that I am when it comes to this. But it
just explained to me in very basic terms, how we
could be growing organs in space stations and saving lives

(01:31):
here on Earth.

Speaker 2 (01:32):
You know, one of the you know, the current space station,
the ISS has already demonstrated some of these key capabilities.
And in terms of a microgravity laboratory in space, I
mean the fundamental is that on Earth obviously we have
one G, so everything is getting pulled down, and that
that you know, anything you create. And then in lower
forhbit or in space you could say it simply we

(01:53):
have microgravity or zero G. And so it means that
you know, anything you three D print or anything you
do at a cellular level or at an organ level
is not getting pulled down basically while while the process occurred.
So there are many you know, exciting development of what
you can do in the microgravity lab. You can make
drugs where you know protein crystal are growing purer and

(02:17):
better and faster. That's a whole other field. And then
another field that is exciting and as an huge potential
is really tissue growth and basically three D buol printing.
And so that's the basic principle, right. You could make
an organ for somebody using stem cells and cells and

(02:39):
build a structure that you need, you know, eventually a
fully functioning heart or other type of organs, or just
a valve, and you could build a structure that you need.
Because of zero G doesn't collapse on itself. Right on Earth,
there will be always this tension and until until the
organ is fully assembled, it's not structurally sound, and so

(03:01):
it makes it more difficult. While on the space station,
you don't have this pull of the material down because
of the gravity, and therefore you while you try to
complete the structure of a heart or something like that
in the future, you don't have that interim force that
is destroying it. And so that has created a huge

(03:22):
amount of hope and research.

Speaker 1 (03:25):
Max. I think it's amazing. I mean most people don't
even realize that. This blew my mind. And another reason
why I started this whole thing was because the way
the mainstream media, which by the way, has just completely
failed in terms of how it covers space and science
and technology. We're living in the beginning of the Second
Industrial Revolution, and they're treating it like it's a ping
pound match between two political parties. It's crazy. Meanwhile, people

(03:49):
like Max and companies like vas are talking about growing
hearts in space labs. I mean, it's straight out of
the Jetsons. I love it. So Haven one is the
is the vast lab for lack of a better word,
that they're gonna blast off on a SpaceX rocket hopefully
in May of twenty twenty six, and they're gonna put
it in in here, and the hope is that there

(04:10):
will be more Haven ones up there eventually where this
scientific research can be done. I will say this, the
media failed because they cover space like it's a bunch
of billionaires trying to get on their rocket to go
to space. That's not what this is about, Okay. This
is about finding cures for cancer, for diseases, for all
of these horrible things that have limited human potential and

(04:34):
human life here on Earth. So I'm assuming Max that
you need people to conduct, not experiments on like it's
in some you know, Twilight Zone episode, But you're gonna
need humans in order to test this. You can't just
do all of this with mice, you know, or bunny rabbits.
So what type of journey are we on in terms

(04:55):
of how many years it will take to do what
you just described growing these types of organs in outer space?
Will it happen in my lifetime or will it have
to take longer?

Speaker 2 (05:04):
I mean, the first problem we have is, you know,
there is a microgravity lab in space, it's called the
International Space Station. The issue is that if you you know,
you were a scientist or a company, a startup or
a farmer company, and you wanted to get something on
that space station in an experiment, it's such a finite
resource and it's such a backlog that it might take

(05:25):
you two to three four years. By the way the
isis is retiring only in a few years. And then
on that space station you will get only a very
small facility. You will get very little time of the
astronaut to perform your experiment. So the biggest bottleneck right
now in getting these breakthrough down. You know microgravity exists,
we know it can be leveraged for all of these applications,

(05:47):
is really we need more volume and we need more
commercially friendly terms and environment. And so that's the excitement
across the industry is that by transitioning, you know, transitioning
from a government owned platform in space to private space station,
which you know, we expect that will be the first
with Heaven one next year. No one really knows what

(06:09):
will happen, what we will unlock, because potentially we will
have you know, one hundred time or experiment you know,
within ten years, and a much faster rate and much
more business friendly way of interacting with all of our partners,
which will be creating the innovation. Right, we provide the platform,
they will do the research, they will do the breakthrough
and the innovation in the in the end product. So

(06:30):
that's the first step, you know, turn it into commercial
use capitalism, lower the price, increase the frequency, and then
let's let's see what happens. That's the transition that we
are focused on on making possible and as soon as possible.

Speaker 1 (06:46):
Last question for you is it's not just growing organs
in outer space from a medical standpoint, you can also
grow food up there and solve the food crisis.

Speaker 2 (06:55):
Right, Well, I'm not sure that the first opportenty to
grow food is really low and how we will grow
food on the mood in Mars and really furthering space exploration.
But clearly, you know, in the same way we are
we are talking about moving data center from Earth to space.
You know, the long term vision from anyone that want
to contribute to space exploration is that we will be

(07:17):
able to move as much industry and as much resource
use right to space from Earth and you know, farming,
farming in space. You know, right now the priority is
really to feed the astronaut and to feed or colonies
that will be on planets and moons. But you never know,
maybe we'll move some of that industry into space that

(07:38):
seems a little bit further away. Maybe.

Speaker 1 (07:40):
All right, Well, if you need someone of the flip
Burgers on Mars, I know a guy, Max Out, CEO
of VAS. Congratulations on everything, and thank you so much
for showing up to me the future. Appreciate you. Thank you,
my friend.

Speaker 2 (07:50):
Thank you,