Twyman Clements is co-founder and president of Space Tango, a Lexington-based company working to transform microgravity into a practical environment for research and manufacturing. In his leadership role, Clements works alongside the company’s CEO to develop and deliver automated products that operate in low-Earth orbit and other off-Earth environments.
Clements’ connection to the space industry began at the University of Kentucky, where he earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering. While at UK, he began developing the original product architecture that ultimately helped shape Space Tango. He later served as a senior space systems engineer at Kentucky Space, designing high-altitude balloons, CubeSats, and hardware for the International Space Station.
Space Tango was created to simplify and expand access to space-based research and manufacturing. The company installed its first permanent facility aboard the International Space Station in 2016 and has since broadened its capabilities to support missions in low-Earth orbit, lunar environments, and beyond. Its automated systems allow researchers to conduct experiments with little or no astronaut involvement, reducing mission risk and accelerating the path from an initial concept to an operational project in space.
The company’s work is based on a simple but powerful idea: Gravity influences the behavior of cells, chemicals, and materials on Earth. Removing that influence can reveal possibilities that traditional laboratories cannot reproduce. Space Tango’s platforms support research in areas including disease modeling, drug development and discovery, regenerative medicine, materials and biomanufacturing, plant science, and fundamental science. The goal is to turn discoveries made in space into scalable applications that improve life on Earth.
Among the company’s technologies are Mambo, a large-volume platform for complex experiments and continuous manufacturing in orbit; PAUL, a powered ascent platform designed to protect biological materials and collect critical data from launch through docking; and Studio, an automated laboratory featuring robotic handling, advanced imaging, and a controlled environment. Studio can be reprogrammed while in orbit, allowing researchers to update protocols without relying on crew time or waiting for hardware to return to Earth.
Clements has earned national and statewide recognition for his work. He was named one of Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business in 2018 and was inducted into the Kentucky Entrepreneur Hall of Fame. Under his leadership, Space Tango has worked with Fortune 500 companies, startups, research foundations, and academic institutions to make space-based research faster, more accessible, and more useful. His career also highlights Kentucky’s growing role in the commercial space economy, demonstrating that groundbreaking aerospace innovation can be developed in Lexington and carried into orbit around Earth and beyond.