California-based startup Varda Space Industries is set to launch its first test payload on a SpaceX rocket, kicking off the company’s quest to develop pharmaceuticals in space.

“It’s not as sexy a human-interest story as tourism when it comes to commercialization of the cosmos,” said Will Bruey, Varda’s CEO and cofounder. “But the bet that we’re making at Varda is that manufacturing is actually the next big industry that gets commercialized.”