NEW DELHI, 16th May, 2025 (WAM) – With an increase in risks during space missions and rising interest in space travel, India is launching biological experiments to study the sustainability of human life in space.
India’s Minister of State for Science, Technology and Space, Jitendra Singh, said the biological experiments will be conducted aboard the International Space Station (ISS) Axiom Mission-4 (Ax-4). Singh added the first such experiment is designed to examine the impact of microgravity and space radiation on the growth of edible microalgae.
Edible microalgae is a nutrient-rich potential food source for long-duration space missions. “Rich in proteins, lipids, and bioactive compounds, microalgae promise safe and sustainable space-based nutrition,” India’s Ministry of Science and Technology said in a fact sheet on the unique project.
Axiom Mission-4 is a space flight in partnership between SpaceX and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
It is scheduled to take off from the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida on 8th June. Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will be a member of its crew.
The second experiment at the ISS will study the “growth and proteomic responses of cyanobacteria, such as Spirulina and Synechococcus, under microgravity conditions using urea- and nitrate-based media,” the fact sheet said.
Its aim is to explore Spirulina as a “superfood” in space due to its high protein and vitamin content and to study the effects of space conditions on their metabolic profiles.
The experiments have been designed by organisations under India’s Ministry of Science and Technology in association with the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in New Delhi.