A University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ)-led space agriculture experiment is set to launch to the International Space Station tomorrow (12 February), marking a major milestone for Australia’s growing space and advanced manufacturing sector.
Funded by the iLAuNCH Trailblazer, the project will send two compact greenhouse payloads into orbit to study plant growth in microgravity using advanced imaging and artificial intelligence.
Project lead Associate Professor Cheryl McCarthy and her team are in the United States completing final pre-launch preparations ahead of liftoff.
“We are sending two small greenhouses to the International Space Station, which contain plants, and we are going to use cameras to monitor their growth,” Associate Professor McCarthy said.
One plant chamber supports healthy growth conditions, while the other is designed to intentionally induce stress.
Daily imagery captured by cameras will allow researchers to monitor plant growth on the International Space Station and compare growth patterns in real time, spotting stress before it becomes visible to the human eye.
The launch follows months of extensive ground testing, safety reviews, and documentation to meet the strict requirements for payloads flown to the International Space Station.
The team has conducted multiple full practice runs of the experiment using the same components that will now be sent to space.
At the launch site, the team will finalise the experiment by sterilising the plant chambers, loading seeds and growth media, sealing the payload, and handing it over for integration prior to launch.
“We have had to do months and months of ground testing for this experiment to send it to space, and everything needs to meet very stringent safety requirements before it can fly,” Associate Professor McCarthy said.
Understanding how to reliably grow plants in space is critical for future long-duration and deep-space missions, where plants are expected to play a role not only in food production, but also in materials and medical manufacturing.
The technology being tested also has strong applications on Earth, particularly in remote or automated agricultural environments. By combining machine vision, sensors and AI-driven analysis, the system could enable plants to be monitored and managed without constant human oversight.
The project is funded by the iLAuNCH Trailblazer and led by UniSQ in collaboration with international and industry partners. Axiom Space (USA) provides spaceflight and payload expertise, while Yuri Gravity (Germany) has supported experiment design, electronics manufacturing and launch logistics. Australian agricultural business Medicinal Harvest has supported ground-based trials of the technology.
With launch imminent, the mission represents a significant step forward in Australia’s capability to design, test and deliver complex payloads for space, while creating technologies with real-world benefits back on Earth.
