Conceived in space

DUTCH-based space research firm SpaceBorn United is targeting a ground-breaking space mission in the first half of 2023 that will see the fertilisation of rodent embryos in artificial gravity followed by a pregnancy and birth in a laboratory back on Earth.

Using SpaceBorn’s new ‘Space-Embryo-Incubator’ flying in low Earth orbit (LEO), several mice will become the first animals in history to be conceived and born in this way.

A Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was signed by SpaceBorn United CEO Egbert Edelbroek and Izmir Yamin, CEO of Malaysian re-entry capsule manufacturer Independence-X Aerospace (IDXA), at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Paris, France.

The agreement paves the way for an initial flight next year of the ARTIS (Assisted Reproduction Technology in Space) mission which will use Independence-X’s low-cost launch service and re-entry capsule.

“Our ARTIS prototype is in full development to prepare for the first test flight. Our goal to enable safe embryo development in space starts with testing the prototype in space with mouse sperm and oocytes,” said Dr Edelbroek.

“A series of ARTIS missions in the coming years will enable research on partial gravity effects on embryo development and help us move towards the ultimate goal of human reproduction and childbirth in space.”

The payload contains male and female reproduction cells and, once deployed in LEO, the embryos are automatically impregnated and start developing in an artificial, Earth-like level of gravity. After five days the incubator is returned to Earth via the Independence-X re-entry vehicle, known as MERCAP (Microgravity Experiment Re-entry Capsule).

In laboratory conditions back on Earth, the embryos will be placed in healthy mouse pups for gestation and birth to occur, their development monitored and compared to control samples.

Independence-X is a Malaysian space company that has developed a small launch vehicle called DNLV (Dedicated Nano Launch Vehicle) with a maximum payload of 200 kg and capable of putting satellites into LEO.

“The signing of the MoA between Independence-X Aerospace and SpaceBorn United marks a historic moment in the space industry,” says Mohd Izmir bin Yamin, Founder, CEO & CTO.

“For the first time an unmanned orbital laboratory with re-entry capabilities is being flown for bio tech research and we see this as a key to unlock potential for the human expansion into the deep space.

“Independence-X will provide the re-entry vehicle and the on board support system, SpaceBorn United will provide the precious microfluidic payload to carry out the experiment in space,” he added.

“This MOA will mark the beginning of human reproduction in Space and the next step for humanity to become a multi-planetary species.”

IDXA is a company of industry professionals and academics based at Sendayan Metropark in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. As well as serving the global space industry, it aims to create a Malaysian space hub and contribute to socio-economic development of the region through space-related technologies.

SpaceBorn United, based in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, describes itself as the first bio-tech and mission development company working to make human conception and embryo development in space feasible, eventually enabling human pregnancy and birth in space.

Dr Edelbroek, who is also an MP of the space nation Asgardia which was formed in 2016 and has the stated goal of facilitating the first human birth in space, added: “If humanity wants to become a multi-planetary species we also need to learn how to reproduce in space. This is what we are working towards.”

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In the photo above: MOA signing ceremony in Paris. Pictured are (standing from left): Nor Azila Wirda binti Mohd Din (Deputy Director, MIDA Paris), Abdullah Ma'amor bin Ibrahim, Minister Counsellor (Malaysian Embassy, France), Mohd Fadeli bin Md Halid (Product Engineer, Independence-X Aerospace), Afiq bin Mohd Rashdi (Control Systems Engineer, Independence-X Aerospace), Dr Aqeel Shamsul (CEO, Frontier Space Technologies Ltd) and Mat Zalasiewicz (CTO, Frontier Space Technologies Ltd). Sitting: Mohd Izmir bin Yamin (Founder, CEO & CTO, Independence-X Aerospace) and Dr Egbert Edelbroek (Founder & CEO, SpaceBorn United).

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Editor's note: given the somewhat controversial nature of engineering conceptions in space and its long-term implications, I am suprised this story, from the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Paris, did not get more traction and/or star billing in some of the tabloid press. A plan to conceive mice in Earth orbit and then have them born in a laboratory back on Earth would write its own headlines!

North Norfolk's rocket firm

From Beijing and Hyderabad to Adelaide, from Kazakstan to Mexico, from French Guiana to Florida - over the years I've had the privilege to travel pretty much all over the world to report on space stories, launches and space conferences.

So over the summer it was rather nice to receive an invite to cover a space-related event somewhere much closer to home - infact barely a stone's throw from my home in Lincolnshire, a relatively short drive away in the county of Norfolk.

Colleague Daniel Smith, the founder of AstroAgency, came down from Edinburgh too for the event and so we were able to car-share the journey across the flatplans of the Lincolnshire Fens into the kinder and gently rolling Norfolk countryside.

Here's my story from the day, which was published on several space and general news websites.

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AMBITIOUS space-start-up Gravitilab is leading the race to establish the first vertical launch site in England close to the nerve centre of the UK space industry.

Operating from a former RAF base in the wilds of North Norfolk, the firm also plans to corner a slice of the international space market with its world-leading zero-gravity drone and eco-friendly sounding rockets.

Gravitilab claims it is the first UK-based company to provide end-to-end microgravity for research and testing, as well as the first in the world to offer it from a drone-launched pod system.

The firm’s fleet of rockets, designed exclusively for microgravity testing, includes ADA which became the first ever commercial rocket launched from UK soil in August 2021.

ADA is a smaller version of its principal commercial rocket, ISAAC, will fly to an altitude of 250 km and provide around 300 seconds of microgravity before returning to Earth for recovery and re-use. Its inaugural mission is slated for the first half of 2023.

Rockets will initially launch from UK Spaceport 1 at Benbecula Airport in the Outer Hebrides but by the middle of the decade Gravitilab plans to be operating an offshore launch pad in the North Sea off the Norfolk coast.

“A key reason for doing this is because all UK spaceports are a long way away from the heart of where the primary areas of UK space interest lie,” said Mark Roberts, the company’s recently appointed managing director. “We are much closer geographically so it makes great sense to bring clients here.”

He also suggested that providing high quality microgravity environments for test, experimentation and science, at affordably competitive price points would stimulate the market.

Gravitilab’s drop pod system, LOUIS, recently delivered a world first for microgravity from a drone. It provides the opportunity to run more local and affordable testing campaigns albeit from lower altitudes.

Speaking to space industry professionals, academia and government representatives at the firm’s headquarters near Norwich on Friday (8 July), CEO Rob Adlard, says the company’s ambition is to reduce the high failure rate of nanosatellites in low Earth orbit.

“We are developing technologies and services to provide accessible and affordable research and testing services that will enable innovation while also helping to reduce the build up of space debris,” he stated.

Adlard says Gravitilab’s services support the space qualification of equipment which could help reduce the current up to 50 percent failure rate of newly deployed nanosatellites, with 75 percent of those failures immediate.

“We have developed a fleet of sub-orbital, hybrid powered rockets and a revolutionary Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) which releases a drop pod from a high altitude drone,” he said.

“Our range of vehicles enable customers to expose research & testing payloads to real space environments to understand how they behave with variations in temperature, thrust, radiation, vibration and, most importantly, microgravity.”

Space technology readiness for satellite hardware is assessed using an industry standard known as the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) scale, which ranks technology preparedness between 0 and 9.

Gravitilab believes it can address a gap between TRL levels 5 and 8 where it isn’t possible to test in a laboratory on Earth before an actual orbital mission. It says testing and certifying components in sub-orbital microgravity at relatively low-cost will make a major contribution to future space sustainability.

Katherine Courtney, former CEO of the UK Space Agency (UKSA), described space sustainability as a key priority in the country’s national space strategy.

“The UK space sector is becoming known the world over for it's focus on sustainability and the responsible use of space,” she said.

“But there is still a critical gap in the UK space value chain and that's the ability to safely and sustainably conduct experiments and test new technologies in microgravity from the UK. I'm delighted that Gravitilab is plugging that gap.”