Space Tango SpaceX CRS-29 Live Organoid, Stem Cell, and Drug Development Research Transferred from Crew Dragon to the ISS

LEXINGTON, Ky. (November 14, 2023) ー Space Tango, a prominent leader in automated microgravity solutions for data, biotechnology, and manufacturing successfully installed life science investigations Sunday on the International Space Station (“ISS”) on SpaceX’s 29th commercial resupply services (“SpaceX CRS-29”) mission. Live organoid, stem cell, and drug development research from Space Tango flights partners Cedars-Sinai, the University of California San Diego, the Sanford Stem Cell Institute, Mount Sinai, Sachi Bioworks, and Encapsulate were transferred from the Crew Dragon to the ISS where they will remain for a 30-day mission.

“Space Tango’s successful installation of our partners’ investigations stands as a testament to our continued flight and customer heritage in data and manufacturing use-cases that aim to address humanity’s greatest health challenges,” said Space Tango Chief Executive Officer S. Sita Sonty. “Our iterative product pipeline speaks for itself. We are simply ahead of the pack in scaling sustainable space lab environments. Our payload history is like our company – diverse, trusted, and growing.”

Space Tango SpaceX CRS-29 investigations were hosted inside two Space Tango Powered Ascent Utility Lockers (“PAULs”) which enable active cell culture control for biological payloads on Earth, during ascent, and in orbit. The lockers provide consistent power to support media exchanges, data capture, and general experiment maintenance, including starting experiments immediately upon entry into the microgravity environment during the ascent phase. Data captured during ascent is accessible for download once PAULs are installed onboard the ISS. Utilizing a standard single mid-deck locker in any visiting vehicle during the transport phase, PAULs provide the necessary resources for complex payloads while expanding capabilities on the ISS and on any platform.

Space Tango investigations from the University of California San Diego are loaded into a PAUL ahead of the SpaceX CRS-29 launch. Photo Credit: Space Tango

“Accommodating the growing demand for life science applications in microgravity can be a challenge when that demand is greater than the available resources,” said Space Tango Chief Technology Officer Gentry Barnett. “PAULs alleviate this resource constraint and prioritize a high throughput of data with investigations designed to scale for long-term manufacturing applications.”

The successful installation of Space Tango’s partner investigations on SpaceX’s 29th commercial resupply service mission (SpaceX CRS-29) further deepens our track record in developing systems to transform groundbreaking research into meaningful data and manufacturing.

To learn more about the applications taking place today that establish a transformative future for biomedical manufacturing, visit https://spacetango.com/latest/missions/crs-29-payloads/.

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Space Tango is an industry leader in automated systems in the pursuit of health and technology manufacturing in space. Since 2017 Space Tango has provided facilities to support iterative R&D and manufacturing in microgravity environments. Through an integrated and intuitive approach, Space Tango works alongside its diverse partner base to embrace pathways to production. For more information, visit www.spacetango.com.