Kayser Italia

Bioreactor Express is a service which aims to establish an “express” way to perform scientific and/or technological experiments on board the ISS.

Created: 2019-11-16

Updated: 2021-01-08

Classification

Microgravity & ISS Flight Service

Category

Microgravity Flight Service (LEO)

Fields

Medicine and Drugs
Biotech
Pharmaceutical

Status

1) Active

First launch

2020

Partners

ESA

It exploits the KUBIK incubator facility of the European Space Agency (ESA) which is permanently installed on the Columbus module of the ISS. With this approach several categories of experiments can be performed using available miniaturized “bioreactors” dedicated to biological, biotechnological and biochemistry experiments.

ESA is partnering with Kayser Italia to offer the Kubik facility on the International Space Station to commercial customers.

Bioasteroid, the first Bioreactor Express payload, has been successfully launched on the CRS-21 from the Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A at 11:17 AM ET and it is now on its way to the ISS. The experiment, conceived by Prof. Charles Cockell of the University of Edinburgh, investigates how gravity affects the interaction between microbes and rock in a liquid medium. This first payload demonstrated the fast-track access to microgravity allowed by the Bioreactor Express service (contract to launch within one year).