Unlocking the mysteries of microgravity: South Australian titans forge new space frontiers!

In a groundbreaking collaboration, two South Australian space industry companies, Cambrian Executive Pty Ltd and ResearchSat Pty Ltd, are joining forces to forge new pathways into space. This partnership is set to revolutionise the way local and international organisations engage in microgravity research, a field rapidly gaining traction in the scientific community.

Cambrian Executive and ResearchSat are combining their expertise to streamline access to space for businesses and organisations. By teaming together to work with international researchers, space agencies and launch providers they are helping to make research in microgravity accessible for all, no longer just an exclusive few.

This collaboration is particularly significant for those in the health and medical science sectors, as well as for those involved in the development of new materials. The synergy between these two companies is poised to unlock the potential of microgravity for pivotal research endeavours.

Tiffany Sharp, the Space Director at Cambrian Executive emphasised the evolving nature of space research. “Access to space for research in microgravity is rapidly becoming normalised, ‘space labs’ in LEO will become mainstream in time. It will become a simple question of logistics, no different to familiar research considerations, such as transport and access to medical storage or laboratory facilities,” Sharp explained. She further elaborated on the expanding options for microgravity research, which include stratospheric, sub-orbital, and orbital methods, with the International Space Station and Axiom. “We have teamed with ResearchSat to develop new business and accelerate growth in microgravity research. Many people regard space as futuristic, but we’re demonstrating the capabilities available now, making medical and new product breakthroughs a reality today,” Sharp added.

RaviTeja Duggineni, CEO of ResearchSat, shared his enthusiasm for the collaboration, noting its potential to build on previous missions and expand access to microgravity research. “Microgravity research refers to the study of biological and physical processes in a weightless environment, such as space. This unique environment offers numerous advantages for researchers to explore new frontiers, including accelerated drug development and key insights into cell biology,” Duggineni said. He also highlighted the importance of understanding fluid dynamics in microgravity and its implications for advancing life-science technologies and therapeutics.

Cambrian Executive, a defence and space advisory and business development consultancy, is known for its focus on research and development, including in health and life sciences. As an Australian veteran-owned business based in Adelaide, South Australia, Cambrian Executive is dedicated to driving rapid evolution in defence and space by navigating the complex landscape of these industries, teaming with innovative local and international partners.

ResearchSat is committed to empowering space biology research with seamless, end-to-end solutions. They have developed CubeSats and payloads for life sciences and pharmaceutical research in microgravity environments.

With a mission to explore the unique characteristics of microgravity, ResearchSat is working tirelessly to make space research accessible to all researchers and organizations.

This collaboration between Cambrian Executive and ResearchSat represents a significant leap forward in the field of microgravity research in Australia, promising to open new doors and create unprecedented opportunities for scientific discovery and innovation.

Jibin Jeffrey Dhanaraj, Chief Technology Officer from ResearchSat relayed their ability to tailor payloads to their clients needs, allowing them to observe in real time, the impact of a drug on cells and bacteria. As an example, Jibin stated that their payload can be designed to film bacteria proliferation in microgravity, and simultaneously time release a drug, offering great insights into tackling antimicrobial resistance, currently a global threat to humanity.

Since announcing their teaming in November 2023, ResearchSat was granted ongoing Overseas Payload Permits and Payload Return Authorisation for its Australian designed and manufactured payloads, purpose built to run microbiological and pharmaceutical experiments in microgravity, to be launched via suborbital rockets from Esrange Space Center in Sweden. These permits also enable the payloads to be returned to Australia after the spaceflight.

A landmark event in the new partnership will be the scheduled sub-orbital space flight of microbial payloads, set to launch in mid to late February 2024. This mission represents the first set of experiments in microgravity under their new teaming arrangement, marking a significant milestone in their collaborative efforts.

Sharp will be one of the scientists on-site to ensure the microbial research is integrated into the Swedish Space Corporation, (SSC) sounding rocket later this month. Sharp stated “We’re excited to be a part of a global community, that understands the benefits of microgravity research, and to be a part of ResearchSat’s innovative payload design, that will ensure test results are safe and sound”.

The SSC has space heritage history of over 50 years in space research and rocket launch capability, and their company mission is to help Earth benefit from Space. Sharp stated that, “we have been welcomed and greatly assisted and supported by SSC, we’re not just ‘hitching a ride’, we’re greeted as global space community partners, made up of international scientists, engineers, researchers that are achieving, solving problems, and helping each other”

“We’re often asked why microgravity research is important,” said Tiffany Sharp, further elaborating that, “microgravity offers the ability to observe and capture tumour cell growth variations, bacteria proliferation, uniform protein crystallisation, accelerated aging tissue cells, and stem cell stability, that is simply not readily possible and achievable on earth, resulting in greater insight for, medicine, pharmaceutical, hospital research, cosmeceutical, and anti-aging industries”.

Quite simply, microgravity offers the expedition and clearer identification of biological experiments compared to the issues associated with Earth’s gravitational pull, that can result in faster breakthroughs in key research. “Instead of decades, we could be looking at a fraction of that time, a fraction of that money, possibly saving more lives, and improving quality of life on Earth,” said Sharp.

As the Australian and international space industries create more launch opportunities, microgravity will continue to become more affordable and accessible for researchers. John Godwin, Managing Director of Cambrian Executive, emphasised this point, saying “Currently, you’d be surprised at how affordable it is for researchers in Australia to access microgravity for research, with Australian businesses offering opportunities with international partners directly to space – far less than the amounts typically received for a single key research grant, or less than the quarterly advertising budget for a medium sized business”.

Ravi further emphasised that microgravity research isn’t restricted to medical science, adding, “ultimately we believe microgravity will be the next decade’s manufacturing ground for new generation technologies ranging from advanced semiconductors to new advanced materials and regenerative therapeutics.”

What is clear after talking to Cambrian Executive and ResearchSat is that the sky is no longer the limit. Together they are helping clients to navigate ‘beyond blue skies’ using well-established national and international space pathways that can be made available to you, without the wait list and without exorbitant costs.

It’s here today, it’s effective, it’s affordable, and it represents a growing sovereign Australian capability.