Space-Drawn ZBLAN Fiber Shows 80 Percent Higher Strength
Microgravity production suppresses crystallization, moving the material toward its potential for near-lossless light transmission.
Updated on Oct. 26, 2026 in Space
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Flawless Photonics and Adelaide University produced 11.8 kilometers of ZBLAN optical fiber aboard the International Space Station in 2024. The orbital manufacturing process yielded fibers with significantly higher mechanical strength than ground-produced alternatives.
Why it matters
Space-based manufacturing allows engineers to suppress crystallization in molten glass, a persistent challenge for terrestrial production. Success here moves the industry closer to realizing ZBLAN's theoretical potential for near-lossless light transmission.
Orbital production resulted in 11.8 kilometers of fiber, with the longest continuous strand reaching 1.1 kilometers. While step-index fibers showed reduced signal attenuation compared to ground samples, single-index variants demonstrated no measurable performance difference.
The players
Flawless Photonics
A developer of specialized manufacturing equipment for creating high-performance optical fibers in space.
Adelaide University
An academic institution focused on advanced glass material research and optical physics.
International Space Station
A modular orbital research facility providing a microgravity environment for material science experiments.
The details
Engineers used a suitcase-sized drawing tower to pull fiber from solid glass preforms in microgravity. Microgravity effectively prevents the formation of crystals within the molten material that typically degrade performance on Earth. Once drawn, the fiber samples were returned via an automated SpaceX capsule for analysis in five distinct laboratory environments.
Timeline
1990s and early 2000s: Parabolic-flight tests indicated that reduced gravity suppresses crystallization.
2022: Apsidal launched a ZBLAN fiber payload to the International Space Station.
2024: Flawless Photonics and Adelaide University conducted the fiber production experiment.
mid-2027: Flawless Photonics expects to conduct its next orbital experiment.
2030: The International Space Station is currently scheduled for retirement.
The Tech Race
This production effort follows the 2022 Apsidal ZBLAN fiber payload launch, representing an advancement in process scale. It sits within a broader effort to optimize material purity before the 2030 retirement of the International Space Station platform.
Current research remains in the testing phase and does not yet affect commercial optical network hardware or pricing. The process is currently limited by the presence of trace transition metals, which researchers are working to refine in future experiments.
The takeaway
Manufacturing in microgravity significantly improves the mechanical integrity of ZBLAN glass, bringing it closer to its theoretical 100x loss-reduction advantage over silica. Watch for the results of the company's final scheduled 2027 orbital experiment to gauge if impurity levels can be adequately mitigated.
What happens next
Flawless Photonics plans to perform a final space-based fiber production experiment in mid-2027.
Further reading
For more on the trajectory of orbital manufacturing, visit Space.
Source note: This article includes information reported by IEEE Spectrum: Technology, Engineering, and Science News.
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