Redwire Space is launching new investigations with a wide array of Earth and space applications, from crystals for semiconductor components to plant growth for future astronauts, on SpaceX’s 31st Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) mission to the ISS.

Redwire’s Arthrospira-C photobioreactor, designed and built by Redwire for the European Space Agency, will be used to study how the cyanobacterium Arthrospira sp. strain PCC8005, commonly known as Spirulina, responds to spaceflight conditions and whether it produces the same quantity and quality of oxygen and biomass in space as on Earth. Spirulina has been identified as a promising candidate for carbon dioxide and nitrate removal, along with oxygen and biomass production, in spacecraft biological life support systems. The investigation will help further characterize Spirulina’s response to in situ spaceflight conditions like reduced gravity, increased radiation, bacterial morphology, physiology, and metabolism.

Spirulina could be used to could produce both oxygen and food for future spacecraft crew.  Spirulina also has been shown to have radioprotective properties and eating it could help protect space travelers from cosmic radiation, as well as conserve healthy tissue in patients undergoing radiation treatment on Earth. The investigation follows Arthrospira-B, which successfully demonstrated that the cyanobacterium’s biological processes on Earth are the same in space.

Crystals for Semiconductor Component Manufacturing

The In-Space Production of Semimetal-Semiconductor Composite Bulk Crystals in Microgravity (SUBSA-InSPA-SSCug) is an investigation led by United Semiconductors LLC (USLLC) that seeks to manufacture a semimetal-semiconductor composite (SSC) alloy crystal in space. SSC crystals are used to fabricate components for semiconductor technologies. Microgravity could enable production of more SSC crystals suitable for use in next-generation semiconductor products. The investigation will be conducted in the NASA-owned Solidification Using a Baffle in Sealed Ampoules (SUBSA) furnace, managed by Redwire, for the NASA InSPA program. The SUBSA facility allows researchers to investigate how materials melt and solidify in microgravity.

These crystals could be used in advanced semiconductor technologies, including autonomous systems, sensing, artificial intelligence, aerospace, and defense systems. The investigation, led by Dr. Partha Dutta (PI), will be first mission of its kind focused on semiconductor manufacturing process development. These experiments will leapfrog prior science demonstration in the SUBSA to a manufacturing scale demonstration on ISS.

Manufacturing Metal Organic Framework Crystals for Electronics Manufacturing

Assessing the Effect of Microgravity on Growth and Properties of Metal Organic Framework (MOF) Crystals (ADSEP-MOF) investigation aims to assess the effect of microgravity on growth and properties of metal organic framework crystals in microgravity. Macro-scale MOF crystals are of high interest for applications including chromatographic separations, catalysis, electronic devices, including Hall-effect devices and capacitors, and as low k dielectric materials in memristors, chemical sensors, and optoelectronic sensors.

In Earth gravity, the solutal convection phenomenon during MOF crystal growth process creates countless crystallites with uneven growth rates resulting in numerous defect-prone crystals of small size that are non-uniform in size and morphology. On the ISS, the absence of gravity, or acceleration, alleviates the solutal convection phenomenon. Therefore, MOF crystal growth in microgravity is expected to yield large macrocrystals with fewer defects that are more uniform in size and morphology.

The investigation, led by investigators as Stanford University and UC Berkley, will utilize Redwire’s ADvanced Space Experiment Processor Facility (ADSEP) facility, a multipurpose device dedicated to culturing cells, growing crystals, and even hosting live squid in space. ADSEP was used as part of the BFF-Cardiac investigation, which successfully bioprinted live human heart tissue earlier this year.

Improving Food Crops on Earth and in Space

To create a robust space-borne food production system, we must better understand how plants respond to suboptimal conditions. Spaceflight Microbiome of a Food Crop Grown Using Different Substrate Moisture Levels (Plant Habitat-07) seeks to investigate how plants and their associated microbiomes respond to different soil moisture levels like drought or flooding that can result from the engineering challenges of managing water distribution in the microgravity of space.

Using NASA’s Advanced Plant Habitat (APH), an automated plant growth facility managed by Redwire, Plant Habitat-07 will grow red romaine lettuce at four different soil moisture levels. Plant leaves and roots will be sampled and returned so the nutritional quality and microbiomes can be compared. This research will shed light on how moisture conditions influence food safety and nutritional content of space-grown produce for consumption by future astronauts.

Launching on SpX-31 are three new pharmaceutical crystal investigations using Redwire’s novel pharmaceutical drug development platform (PIL-BOX). An investigation with Bristol Myers Squibb will study model small molecule compounds. The investigation has the potential to enhance drug stability, streamline manufacturing processes, and improve efficiencies across various therapeutic areas, including oncology, immunology, and cardiovascular disease.

Redwire is also conducting a PIL-BOX investigation in partnership with ExesaLibero Pharma to study the novel drug ELP-004, which prevents excess bone removal associated with numerous diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, multiple myeloma, and breast and prostate cancers.  A third PIL-BOX investigation being conducted in partnership with Butler University will seek to produce high-quality seed crystals in microgravity that could be used for production of pharmaceuticals on Earth.

Redwire has launched 16 PIL-BOXes to date with 12 more launching on SpX-31. Previous PIL-BOX investigations have focused on various crystal molecules for treatments of cardiovascular disease, obesity, and diabetes.

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