Syntilay to Design First-Ever Shoe in Space Using AI, Launching New Era of Off-Earth Manufacturing

Off-Earth footprint: Florida company will design shoe in space in 2026

The footwear company Syntilay plans to design a shoe in low Earth orbit in 2026. (Image credit: Syntilay) Humanity will soon take another step toward establishing an off-Earth economy, if all goes according to plan. The Florida footwear company Syntilay aims to design a shoe in space by mid- to late 2026, showcasing some new technology and blazing a trail for others to follow. "The purpose of this is to push the boundaries of what's possible," Syntilay founder and CEO Ben Weiss told Space.com. "We've heard about making new materials in space and stuff like that, but the average consumer hasn't really benefited from a lot of these innovations yet," he added. "We can, I think, incentivize and increase the interest in this category and make it more practical for people, which is something that I think has been missing." Syntilay -- whose name is based on the word "scintillate" -- already uses artificial intelligence (AI) and 3D printing to develop and produce its shoes here on Earth. So moving the design process to low Earth orbit (LEO) shouldn't be too much of a stretch, Weiss said. The company is part of a commercial mission led by OrbitsEdge and Copernic Space that will take crypto mining and accessible AI-powered computing into the final frontier, via a satellite that will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in early 2026. Syntilay will use AI agents on board that satellite to design a shoe in microgravity -- something that has never been done before. That design will be beamed down to Earth, where it will be manufactured to create "an exclusive 3D-printed shoe collection, each pair tokenized and authenticated via the Copernic Space platform," OrbitsEdge and Copernic Space wrote in a statement. "I think it's going to produce something that's truly amazing, that breaks the mold of what's possible. And I think we're really excited to see what it makes," Weiss said. The goal is to have the space-designed shoes ready to sell by September 2026 at the latest, he added. The new space project could also help Syntilay carve out a bigger niche for itself in a competitive market, said company advisor Joe Foster, who co-founded Reebok back in 1958. "It's, 'How do we find a different way in?' and it was the same when we started Reebok," Foster told Space.com. "We were very small," he added. "We had to look for what we call white space. White space was somewhere where we could make a difference, where we could be part of it, as against just chasing the big boys. And so this is looking for white space that is actually in space. So what better space can you get?"

Startup Backed by Reebok Co-Founder to Design Shoes in Space

A footwear startup is teaming up with two space companies to design a shoe in orbit as part of a mission to make artificial intelligence and blockchain less expensive and more eco-friendly than it is on Earth. OrbitsEdge, a company that supports AI and blockchain applications, and Copernic Space, which offers digital marketplaces for space assets, plan to send a solar- and battery-powered satellite to space equipped with a computer that will use AI automation to produce a shoe design for the Syntilay brand.

Startup backed by Reebok co-founder to design shoes in space

(Bloomberg) -- A footwear startup is teaming up with two space companies to design a shoe in orbit as part of a mission to make artificial intelligence and blockchain less expensive and more eco-friendly than it is on Earth. OrbitsEdge, a company that supports AI and blockchain applications, and Copernic Space, which offers digital marketplaces for space assets, plan to send a solar- and battery-powered satellite to space equipped with a computer that will use AI automation to produce a shoe design for the Syntilay brand. The mission is expected to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in early 2026. OrbitsEdge and Copernic Space aim to test whether crypto mining and AI model training, which stress power grids and natural resources, can be shifted off-planet. "By moving some of the more carbon intensive industries and getting them off the Earth, we can reduce those footprints here on the ground," Rick Ward, chief executive officer of OrbitsEdge, told Bloomberg News. The companies want to highlight the possibilities for using in-orbit computing at a time when businesses are exploring economic opportunities in space. While there could be some benefits to the plan, there are costs to developing and deploying computing infrastructure in orbit, said Ben Hertz-Shargel, who leads research on grid digitization for research firm Wood Mackenzie. "It would relieve energy burdens on Earth, including grid congestion," said Hertz-Shargel. However, it could run into supply-chain issues similar to those for terrestrial power plants and data centers, he said, "because you still need to build it, assemble it here and then launch it." Boca Raton-based Syntilay will use AI agents on the satellite to produce the first image of a shoe design from space, said Ben Weiss, founder and CEO of the shoe company. Syntilay already uses 3D printing to sell custom-fit, AI-designed shoes on Earth. The company, which launched its first shoe earlier this year, is backed by Joe Foster, 90, who co-founded Reebok in 1958 and retired from the company in 1989. Syntilay's plan is to use AI in space to generate a 3D model of the shoe along with patterns, textures and shading, Weiss said. If the computer on the satellite doesn't have enough processing power, the company will produce a 2D image, he added. The design will be sent back down to Earth and scans of customers' feet will be used to manufacture the shoes using 3D printing. The shoes will cost roughly $200. The company "can't make a lot of shoes," said Foster, who oversees Syntilay's footwear development. But the unique product could spark consumer interest in the company and its new method. "I don't think we're looking for a big market," Foster said. "But we can make some things that people will say, 'I got that first. I got that shoe that's come out of a design from space.'"