Bioreactor Express Service
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- Kayser Italia
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- Research & Product Development,
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- Microgravity,
- http://www.bioreactorexpress.com/
- Low-Earth Orbit (LEO)
- ISS
< 250.000 €
< 12 months
Service Description
Bioreactor Express is a service which aims to establish an “express” way to perform scientific and/or technological experiments on board the International Space Station (ISS). 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. A wider typology of experiments (plant physiology, food production, material science, fluid science, educational, etc.) can also be supported inside KUBIK. In July 2019, ESA and Kayser Italia signed the partnership agreement for the commercial exploitation of the ESA KUBIK facility.
Several types of bioreactors (also called Experiment Units or EU) and Experiment Containers have been developed by Kayser Italia in support to investigations of biological systems inside the KUBIK incubator. EUs reduce a laboratory into a hand-sized electromechanical device that allows the autonomous execution of a scientific protocol, being designed to contain the cell culture and all the chemicals (culture medium, wash buffers, fixatives, etc.) required by the experiment.
Bioreactor Express Services
- Incubation of scientific ideas
- Feasibility assessment
- Selection of experiment hardware
- Training and experiment fine tuning
- Experiment simulation test
- Mission logistic support
- Integration at launch site
- Transfer to ISS and return
- On orbit operations
- Ground control
- Data and samples delivery to science team
- Scientific dissemination
Research and manufacturing in the microgravity environment – from design to implementation
- Streamlining the process of designing, integrating and operating experiments in microgravity to develop new products
- Reduced development cycle
- Reduced cost for R&D and pilot manufacturing
- Automated with minimized astronaut interaction
- Web-based customer portal to retrieve data
- Allowing customers to focus on science
- Expertise in technology and scientific consulting
The miniature laboratory offers room for 24 experiment containers and is equipped with features such as temperature control and a centrifuge that simulates a range of gravity levels by spinning the containers. These features allow for comparison between different environments, for example how samples of bacteria, human cells or plant seeds react to gravity levels on Earth, the Moon and Mars.
KUBIK Facility
In the Media
Biomining study could unlock future settlements on other worlds
A UK-led space biomining experiment, which has the potential to provide resources for future space missions, is due to launch on a SpaceX rocket today
www.gov.uk
Fly your experiment to the Space Station with Bioreactor Express Service
ESA is partnering with Kayser Italia to offer the Kubik facility on the International Space Station to commercial customers. The new Bioreactor Express Service allows users to conduct experiments in weightlessness.
www.esa.int
See also
