NZ research to fly on international space station

Ōtautahi - A research facility prototype developed in Christchurch will soon orbit earth aboard the international space station (ISS) under a partnership between the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) and US space company Axiom Space.

The facility for studying protein crystal growth in space was developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, senior lecturer at the University of Canterbury. It was one of two projects selected for initial feasibility studies in 2022.

The facility could lead to major advances in medical, biotechnological, food science and agricultural innovation.

The research facility is scheduled to fly on Axiom Mission 3 later this year, which will be the third private astronaut mission to the ISS.

When protein crystals are grown in microgravity, they can develop into larger and higher quality crystals than what we can grow on earth. The crystals can then be used to create high-resolution pictures of the protein’s structure.

If the researchers have a detailed picture of what virus proteins look like, for example, we can develop things like antiviral drugs and vaccines.

Current facilities for protein crystal growth on the Space Station require significant time and resources for astronauts to mix samples, set up experiments, observe growth and adjust settings as needed.

By developing a facility that is self-contained, autonomous, and allows for on-orbit analysis of thousands of experimental conditions, Sarah hopes even more research can be conducted at a lower cost into the future.

The academics can do a lot of analysis up in microgravity and can gain a great deal of information from the real-time data that we will be able to downlink during the experimentation on the ISS,.

The real value is in being able to get those experiments back to researchers on earth for further analysis.

The initial project represents just the beginning of what they hope to develop into an entirely new industry in New Zealand at the interface between aerospace and biotechnology.

Aotearoa’s partnership with Axiom Space, especially as they transition to operation of their future commercial space station in low-earth orbit, will create opportunities for commercial microgravity research.

Other research set to fly to space includes a new superconducting magnet technology demonstrator, developed by Paihau—Robinson Research Institute, Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington and hosted on Nanoracks’s (Texas, USA) test facility on the outside of the ISS. 

The experiment is a key milestone which will lead to the development of an extremely efficient in-space propulsion system. This research is expected to fly in 2024.