Microgravity research produces transformative discoveries that are changing our world, and enabling a new scientific and industrial revolution. However, with the International Space Station—one of the most frequently used platforms for microgravity research—nearing retirement, it’s time for Congress to ensure industry can maintain access to microgravity for life-changing research—and to ensure the US can maintain its leadership in an area where China is hot on its heels.
Why microgravity matters: Microgravity allows researchers to perform unique experiments that are impossible on Earth, as well as to observe new phenomena that are masked by Earth’s gravity, or are subjected to low-dose radiation. In a nutshell, physical and chemical processes respond differently in this environment.
There is tremendous potential for this kind of microgravity research to deliver better medicine and manufacturing techniques for microelectronics and advanced materials, as well as other benefits we are unaware of now. China is well aware of this potential—and is making huge investments to catch up to the US.
The ISS has been a key platform for long-duration microgravity research, development, and innovation since 2000. Our nation has benefited greatly from the ISS, which has enabled advancements in new pharmaceuticals, breakthrough patient therapies, and more powerful semiconductors. These innovations stem from the ability of ISS to offer a stable, accessible, and continuously operational microgravity laboratory—a setting unlike any on Earth—where gravity no longer limits discovery.
The problem: However, as the ISS nears its planned decommissioning around 2030, there is a looming challenge. The demand for microgravity research in LEO is increasing as various industries begin to recognize its potential, but the capacity of the ISS has begun to decline as its facilities—and ultimately, the platform—begin decommissioning activities. The research community is already experiencing the impact of this decline, as the backlog of payloads for the ISS begins to exceed the number of spaceflights to take those payloads there.
Furthermore, there is no concise and immediate stopgap solution to replace and maintain US microgravity research capability, even as NASA transitions to eventual commercial stations, that aligns with (or is supportive of) commercial endeavors in the near term. Some recent actions taken by Congress to ensure access to ISS will no doubt be helpful. The budgetary future for the program, however—and any follow-on stations—remains murky.
Without stronger leadership to address the microgravity gap, the current and coming capacity constraint will harm our nation’s microgravity research enterprise, slow the development of groundbreaking new technologies, and hinder the commercial development of LEO. And because of that, our nation is on track to cede the critical technological advances of microgravity to China if we do not change course.
Calls to action: Fortunately, there are additional steps Congress and the administration can take to address this challenge.
#1: The US needs a policy that allows NASA and the ISS National Lab to allocate funds for microgravity research on any US platform that meets the requirements of the research payload. For instance, under existing policy, if a microgravity research payload is funded via the ISS National Lab, it can only be serviced on the ISS—even if the payload does not require human tending. Logically, if there are alternative autonomous and human-tended LEO platforms, NASA should have the flexibility to send those microgravity research payloads to other platforms as needed. Research payloads should be able to fly on the most appropriate platform that meets a researcher’s needs, and the payload requirements.
#2: Congress and the administration should devote funds to microgravity research and commercialization that is not wholly dependent on the ISS, while also continuing funding for ongoing ISS utilization to ease the transition after decommissioning. Budgets for microgravity research payloads and commercialization activities at NASA have not kept pace with advances in on-orbit platforms and access technologies, such as commercial launch and reentry. An easy way forward would be to establish a specific funding line to support research and development across a range of high-interest areas on LEO platforms. This approach would expand the availability of microgravity flights and services, by simplifying resourcing for missions and considering the added expenses of launch, on-orbit services, reentry, and recovery of payloads. With this flexibility, researchers could access funds to leverage other platforms and seek the best, most cost-effective fit for their work.
#3: The administration should rethink our nation’s microgravity research strategy. As commercial platforms grow and access to LEO expands, the US should refocus plans to include a whole-of-government approach. While NASA has for many years been the key stakeholder conducting work in microgravity to benefit both people on Earth and further space exploration, it is now one of many federal entities actively funding and conducting microgravity research: The National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Commerce, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the Pentagon are examples. Expanding direct access to microgravity opportunities across the government is in the national interest. White House leadership, coupled with adequate budgets, can enable the continued success and leadership of the US in microgravity research, development, manufacturing, and applications.
The bottom line: We are at the beginning of a scientific and industrial revolution that takes advantage of the unique characteristics of microgravity. Everyday life on Earth will improve as new medicines and materials, along with other discoveries, are made in microgravity and applied to solve practical problems facing humankind.
Enabling US leadership in this field requires a successful transition from the ISS to a diversity of microgravity research platforms, increasing federal agency participation and access to microgravity, and properly budgeting for current and future microgravity research needs.
Will Bruey, CEO, Varda Space Industries
Twyman Clements, Cofounder and President, Space Tango
Olivia Gamez Holzhaus, Founder and CEO, Rhodium Scientific
Michael Gold, President Civil and International Space, Redwire
Jolanda Janczewski, President, CSS
Solange Massa, Founder and CEO, Ecoatoms
John Vellinger, CEO, SpaceMD
Stefanie Countryman, Director, BioServe Space Technologies
The Microgravity Research and Innovation Coalition is a group of senior leaders in the commercial space sector dedicated to new discoveries in space to benefit life on Earth. To learn more, go to microgravitycoalition.org.
