A fully automated University of Canterbury (UC) laboratory designed for biotechnology experiments in microgravity is preparing for testing aboard Dawn Aerospace’s reusable spaceplane.
UC Faculty of Engineering Associate Professor Sarah Kessans and her team developed the high-throughput platform that could reduce work traditionally carried out by astronauts aboard space stations, allowing the screening of thousands of crystallisation conditions in orbit.
“We’ve essentially shrunk an entire crystallisation lab into a shoebox-sized platform,” says Assoc Prof Kessans.
“That means we can do far more testing than has traditionally been possible in orbit, while dramatically reducing the need for astronauts to manually carry out experiments.”
The technology focuses on protein crystallisation; a process used in drug discovery and pharmaceutical formulation research.
“In microgravity, you get much bigger, much higher quality, more perfect protein crystals,” says Assoc Prof Kessans.
“If we can get better crystals, we can get better protein structures and design and develop better drugs.”
Working alongside project partners Dawn Aerospace, Intranel, and Asteria Engineering, the next phase of the research will test components of the platform aboard Dawn Aerospace’s reusable, unmanned spaceplane.
Designed to launch from a runway, fly up to 100km altitude and return to Earth in a single flight, the suborbital spaceplane creates short periods of microgravity for experiments.
Expected to take place through Dawn Aerospace’s operations at Tāwhaki National Aerospace Centre in Canterbury, the flights will allow researchers to test and rapidly iterate systems before future missions to commercial space stations. Alongside testing subsystems during the test flight campaign, the team will conduct a range of protein crystallisation experiments to demonstrate the value of short-duration microgravity research.
“We will be the first mission of its kind, conducting multiple spaceplane microgravity flights and going to space twice in a single day,” says Assoc Prof Kessans.
She says the project reflects New Zealand’s strength in aerospace and biotechnology innovation.
“We’re willing to take risks on ambitious projects and work together across disciplines in ways that enable really exciting research,” she says.
“I wouldn’t be able to do this work without the incredible community of researchers, engineers, and companies we have here in New Zealand.”
The research builds on work already supported through a UC-led $10 million MBIE Endeavour Fund Research Programme, including a prototype platform launched to the International Space Station in 2024.
The latest phase of the project has received $600,000 through the Kiwi Space Activator programme, announced last Friday by Minister for Space, Chris Penk.
Assoc Prof Kessans says the funding enables the team to begin this next phase of testing with Dawn Aerospace.
“I’m an absolute science geek, so I’m really excited to see what the possibilities are from a science perspective.”
