With an extensive track record of enabling microgravity research on the International Space Station (ISS), Redwire is paving the way for game-changing discovery to benefit life on Earth and advance capabilities for space exploration. Redwire’s Belgium-based team was recently awarded two follow-on contracts from the European Space Agency (ESA) to develop two cutting-edge space instruments for upcoming scientific missions to the ISS. The instruments will contribute to advanced research in areas like material science and fluid behavior in microgravity.

The Non-Equilibrium Fluctuations during Diffusion in Complex Liquids (Neuf-Dix) instrument will be used to study diffusion processes. This science will open the door to understanding mixing behavior under microgravity conditions for mixtures of liquids with a different density, as on ground separation occurs by gravity but diffusion could be completely different in orbit. Set to launch in 2026, Neuf-Dix has versatile Earth-based applications, including drug absorption in veins and pigment mixing in paints.

Transparent Alloys (TAC), developed by Redwire and previously launched to the ISS in December 2017, hosts material science experiments focused on the directional solidification of organic materials that mimic the behavior of metallic alloys.  Redwire will develop new flight hardware in support of two more ESA missions to the ISS. The first test campaigns investigated the solidification of eutectic alloys, metastable compositions and columnar to equiaxial transitions.  

Redwire’s Belgium facility has more than 40 years of spaceflight heritage developing innovative microgravity technology for game-changing ESA programs. Other microgravity research payloads like the 3D BioSystem facility to advance tissue manufacturing capabilities and the Arthrospira-C investigation to advance spacecraft biological life support systems.

Read more about Arthrospira-C, which recently launched to the ISS, here.