The Rooibos in Space project has taken another step towards space
following a farewell hosted by Allison Areias, United States (US) Consul General in Cape Town, for South African school and university science experiments bound for the US. The Rooibos seeds will travel alongside these experiments aboard the same spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS).
A total of 17 346 Rooibos seeds, weighing approximately 74.2 grams, will travel to Voyager Technologies in Texas, where the experiment will be prepared for spaceflight. The seeds are divided into three batches:
untreated, scarified, and scarified and treated with a protective
agricultural coating.
Secured inside a specialised Nanolab, the Rooibos experiment is designed to expose the seeds to microgravity and space radiation before they return to Earth for further testing.
A Nanolab is a compact, standardised research module designed to
accommodate experiments for spaceflight and the International Space
Station (ISS). These plug-and-play laboratories allow researchers to
conduct experiments in space without requiring large, custom-built
equipment.
The Rooibos Nanolab is scheduled to fly to the ISS aboard the Cygnus
NG-25 commercial resupply spacecraft, with the mission currently
expected to launch between December 2026 and January 2027. The revised timing follows changes to the Voyager/NASA flight schedule, including broader adjustments to crew and resupply arrangements, which resulted in the October flight originally allocated to the Rooibos experiment being rescheduled.
"This is an exciting milestone for Rooibos and for South Africans who
have followed this project from the beginning," says Dawie de Villiers,
Director of the South African Rooibos Council (SARC). "The scientific
objective is to explore what will happen to the Rooibos seeds when they
are exposed to conditions beyond Earth, opening up new opportunities to learn more about this uniquely South African plant."
The seeds are expected to spend four to six weeks in space before
returning to Earth, where researchers will work with schools in the
Cederberg region - Rooibos' natural growing area - and Parklands College to plant the space-exposed seeds alongside control seeds. Over the course of 18 months, learners and researchers will monitor, measure and analyse differences in germination, growth patterns and plant
development as the plants mature.
Learner participation is central to the project, giving young people the
opportunity to contribute to a real scientific investigation while
developing practical Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) skills. The broader Rooibos in Space initiative has included school engagement, STEM education and a national Mission Patch competition which challenged youth aged 12 to 18 to design a unique patch for the mission.
For Cyril Ngqwala, Rooibos seed technician, preparing the experiment has provided a rare opportunity to combine traditional Rooibos seed
knowledge with space science.
"Working with the seeds from preparation through to assembling the
Nanolab has been an incredible experience," says Ngqwala. "We have
prepared the seeds in different conditions so that, when they return, we
can compare their performance with seeds that have remained on Earth.
It's exciting to think that something as uniquely South African as
Rooibos is now part of a space experiment."
The Rooibos in Space initiative was conceived by the SARC and has been developed as a collaborative project with MaxIQ Space.
The mission will mark the first time a South African indigenous plant
seed has been sent into space for this type of research, creating a
unique opportunity to explore how Rooibos - a plant uniquely adapted to the Cederberg region - responds to the extreme conditions of space.
Updates about the project will be shared on the official website:
www.sarooibos.co.za [2], as well as its social media channels:
@RooibosCouncil (Facebook) and @SARooibosCouncil (Instagram).
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