Electronics Weekly
The headline figures for space-based R&D include sponsoring 103 payload deliveries resulting in 51 published, peer-reviewed papers.
Of the payloads launched to the space station, 80 percent were from commercial entities, reports CASIS, which manages the space lab for Nasa.
Also, nearly 75 percent of newly selected projects in FY24 were from new-to-space users. Of the 31 selected projects, more than half were through ISS National Lab Research Announcements (NLRAs). These concern strategic focus areas of technology development, in-space production applications (tissue engineering and biomanufacturing), and workforce development.
Examples of work carried out in LEO (low Earth orbit) include a project for a muscle tissue chip system. Also, a BioFabrication Facility is a 3D bioprinter capable of printing human tissue from bio-inks mixed with living cells. And more than 11 kilometers of ZBLAN optical fiber was produced onboard the ISS. This was including a record-setting single pull that was more than a kilometer long.
ISS National Lab
“Through the collaborative efforts of NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the ISS National Lab, researchers across every major science discipline have access to the unique features of our orbiting laboratory, where they can conduct cutting-edge investigations that truly cannot be done anywhere else,” said Robyn Gatens, NASA Director of the International Space Station.
“This year, around 80 percent of payloads delivered were commercial, showing the continued growing interest and value in space-based R&D among industry users, which is critical for establishing a sustainable economy in low Earth orbit.”
The 2024 ISS National Lab Annual Report is available online.
Since 2011, CASIS has managed the lab under a Cooperative Agreement with NASA.
Image: CASIS
See also: Sen streams 4K live views from International Space Station
