ExocubeBio successfully completes science verification test in Berlin

On Friday 17th April 2026 Kayser Space and scientific teams from the Free University of Berlin, Sorbonne University, Paris, and European Space Agency conducted the final hardware integration for the ExocubeBio Science Verification Test. The ExocubeBio hardware has been filled with a number of biological samples, ranging from bacteria, archaea, cyanobacteria and microalgae.

The Science Verification Test is an on-ground dress rehearsal, followed by sample analysis, aiming at providing clues of whether the biological samples are suitable for the experiment hardware under ground conditions. It is a mandatory test towards the flight experiment.

The ExocubeBio project aims at investigating the response of life at different stages of complexity to space conditions. Eukaryotic cells will be exposed to the harsh space conditions in low Earth orbit, to measure their response to the space environment. The changes the samples undergo during space exposure will be monitored by on-board sensor equipment, the in situ on-board monitoring will be followed by a sophisticated post-flight analysis to study in detail the biomolecular pathways triggered by radiation events and microgravity, and will help to identify key molecules and membrane components which are involved in the (in)stability of these structures to the space conditions.

ExocubeBio is a part of other three experiments (IceCold, OREOcube and ExocubeChem) that are part of the European Space Agency Exobiology Facility, to be installed on the Bartolomeo platform outside the Columbus Module of the International Space Station.