ISRO’s PSLV To Launch First-Ever Biological Experiments Into Space

India is set to launch biological experiments into space for the first time using an indigenously developed rocket. The upcoming launch of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) will carry not one, but three biological experiments involving living cells. Successfully maintaining living organisms in the harsh, near-vacuum environment of space poses a significant challenge.

The mission will see biological material from plants such as spinach and cowpea, as well as gut bacteria, flown as part of three separate experiments aboard the PSLV Orbital Experimental Module-4 (POEM-4), reported NDTV.

Photo Credit: PTI

Ensuring the survival of any organism in space requires the provision of complete life support systems within a compact, sealed environment. Additionally, the results of the experiments must be gathered remotely.

These trials will take place on the PSLV's fourth stage, which the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has made available for academic institutions to conduct experiments in an authentic space environment.

"In a first such venture, ISRO is flying live biological experiments into space from India. We would have had to start studies on astrobiology sooner than later, and now ISRO will write a whole new poem using the PSLV experimental platform and let Indian biologists explore all aspects of how life can survive in the hostile environment of space," said ISRO Chairman Dr S Somanath.

The PSLV's next mission, designated C-60 and scheduled to launch soon, is a highly experimental one. Its main objective is the Space Docking Experiment (SPADEX), in which ISRO will demonstrate for the first time the docking and undocking of two Indian satellites in space.

In line with its goal of fostering innovation, ISRO has also opened the POEM platform to Indian start-ups and internal scientific teams for testing novel ideas. The upcoming mission will test 24 payloads on the PSLV's fourth stage.

The biological experiments being flown, while relatively small compared to those conducted aboard international space stations, mark a crucial starting point for ISRO in studying how life forms perform in space.

This small step in biological experimentation will contribute towards India's Gaganyaan mission, which aims to send an Indian astronaut into space aboard an Indian rocket. It also lays the groundwork for more advanced experiments to be conducted on the Bharatiya Antariksha Station, expected to be operational by 2035.

A team from Amity University, Mumbai, will study how spinach cells respond to the near zero-gravity environment of space. Scientists from the Amity Centre for Excellence in Astrobiology, led by Vice-Chancellor Dr AW Santhosh Kumar and his nine-member team, aim to explore the potential of food and nutrition production during space missions. Rather than sending whole spinach plants, the experiment will use tissue-cultured cells of Spinacea oleracea as a model.

"We have designed a biological payload to be set on orbit through ISRO with the objective of studying the possibility of food and nutrition during space missions," said Dr Kumar. The experiment will enable real-time monitoring of the biological payload in space. Drawing on his previous experience of flying human cell samples to the International Space Station while working in the US, Dr Kumar is well-versed in conducting astrobiological experiments.

Another experiment, led by undergraduate students from RV College of Engineering, Bengaluru, will see India's first microbiological payload, RVSAT-1, flown into space. The payload will carry the gut bacterium Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron in a sealed capsule to study bacterial growth, its effects on gut health, and gene regulation. This data will offer insights into human physiology in space.

An in-house team from ISRO's Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram will demonstrate how seeds and leaves of cowpea germinate in microgravity conditions using the Compact Research Module for Orbital Plant Studies (CROPS). Microgravity alters the orientation of seedlings, and this experiment seeks to understand the dynamics of plant growth in space.

"Studying plant growth in space is new to ISRO, and the 15-member team is very excited to see the results," said T Latha, Deputy Director of VSSC.

Dr Somanath emphasised the significance of these initial experiments, stating, "These are the first baby steps that could result in mega biological experiments to be undertaken onboard the Bharatiya Antariksha station." He added, "Supporting startups and researchers outside ISRO greatly helps India's large scientific pool get a feel of the space environment."