Uplift Aerospace wants to make concrete from moon dust: And move manufacturing to space.

• Author: Alsever, Jennifer

While GROWING UP IN DRAPER, Utah, Josh Hanes became fascinated by outer space. As a pre-teen, he even tried to invent propulsion systems to take people to the moon.

Two decades later, 31-year-old Hanes is consumed with another space challenge--what people will actually do and need once they launch past Earth's atmosphere and into space?

This fall, his Park City startup Uplift Aerospace inked a deal with NASA to create the first marketplace on the International Space Station (ISS), selling rare and unique items from Earth. Think: a space exhibition of one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces and artwork from iconic creators. Some pieces will be sold to the public, while others will be curated as space artifacts in public museums.

Up next: Uplift will sell more useful items to commercial astronauts on the ISS, whether it's unique foods not available in space or products that make the harsh environment of space a little more comfortable. "Well be creating history's next marketplace and enabling commerce in space," Hanes says. "It's incredible."

Artwork from space is only one facet of the Uplift story. This summer, Uplift worked with researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the University of Central Florida to create a new form of more durable concrete from moon dirt--Luna-Crete--that would enable infrastructure to be built on the moon.

The company is quite literally creating the foundation needed for off-planet construction, commerce, and manufacturing, paving the way for humanity to work and live in space, on the moon, and eventually on other planets.

FUNDING THE FUTURE WITH MOON ART

But how do you sustain a startup on a dream that's at least a decade or more away? Space artwork is emerging as a pretty good financial stop-gap. It's increasingly common for science-driven startups to collaborate with artists-in-residence, says Mark Bunger, who follows the sector for Innovation Lab. And, he says, they're very good at it.

In August, Uplift commissioned Ghanaian artist Amoake Boafo to paint a triptych on the top of a Blue Origin rocket that was launched into space before parachuting back to Earth. The value of original artwork tends to appreciate by 400 to 500 times once it has gone into space and back, Hanes says. Uplift owns the rocket art by Boafo, who last year went from a little-known painter to the art market's biggest star. In December, Christie's set a record for Boafo, selling a canvas painting called Baba Diop for $1.2 million. The...