Redwire Awarded Contract from Astrobiome Space to Launch Space Ag Mission Inside Commercial Space Greenhouse
Redwire will grow strawberries and test Astrobiome Space’s proprietary soil enhancement product inside its Greenhouse systems on board the International Space Station (ISS).
(Luxembourg, Germany) Redwire Corporation announced this morning (Jun. 4) that it has been awarded a contract from Astrobiome Space S.à.r.l. to grow strawberries and test Astrobiome Space’s proprietary soil enhancement product inside its Greenhouse systems on board the International Space Station (ISS), marking the first-ever space agriculture mission in the world’s first commercial space greenhouse.
Image courtesy of Redwire.
Per Redwire, its Greenhouse provides a simple, scalable commercial solution for customers seeking to advance crop science from benchtop laboratory facilities to true production in space.
The Greenhouse everages flight-qualified plant growth technology, including the Passive Orbital Nutrient Delivery System (PONDS) devices developed in partnership with Tupperware Brands and currently operated by Redwire on the ISS, according to today’s press release from Redwire.
The inaugural Redwire-Astrobiome mission will see Astrobiome’s biotstimulant – developed from microbes adapted to the extreme space environments — will be used to grow the first wild-strawberries ever cultivated in orbit.
Astrobiome Space will begin growing test crops in the Greenhouse system on Earth in June, in preparation for the ISS flight, per Redwire.
“This contract with Astrobiome Space marks an exciting step forward in advancing critical technology for sustainable life-support systems beyond Earth,” said Marc Dielissen, Executive Vice-President of Redwire Europe. “With our Greenhouse platform, we are not only enabling fundamental research, but we are also demonstrating the practical cultivation of fresh food in space—including crops such as strawberries and fungi. These capabilities are essential as we prepare for long-duration missions and future habitats, while also generating valuable insights to improve agricultural practices here on Earth.”
Vera Mulyani, Founder and CEO of Astrobiome Space, said: "I dream of going to Mars knowing I can still taste the Earth. The first strawberry grown in space will be tiny, but its flavor will carry the whole story of the forest and the turning seasons. With Astrobiome®, we carry the living wilderness of our planet wherever we go.”
