Liquid-liquid separation and chemical extraction are key processes in drug manufacturing and many other industries, including oil and gas, fragrances, food, wastewater filtration, and biotechnology.

Three years ago, MIT spinout Zaiput Flow Technologies launched a novel continuous-flow liquid-liquid separator that makes those processes faster, easier, and more efficient. Today, nine pharmaceutical giants and a growing number of academic labs and small companies use the separator.

Having proved its efficacy on Earth, the separator is now being tested as a tool for manufacturing drugs and synthesizing chemicals in outer space.

In 2015, Zaiput won a Galactic Grant from the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space that allows companies to test technologies on the International Space Station (ISS). On Dec. 15, 2017, after two years of development and preparation, Zaiput launched its separator in a SpaceX rocket as part of the CRS-13 cargo resupply mission that will last one month.

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