Space Life Science

Development and Demonstration of a Modular Astrobiological Experiments (MAEx) Payload for Autonomous Biological Monitoring in Low Earth Orbit (LEO)

By Keith Cowing

Status Report

astro-ph.IM

May 29, 2026

Filed under astro-ph.IM, biochemistry, biomanufacturing, biotechnology, MAEx, microbiuology, Microgravity, mission, protein, Shewanella oneidensis MR-1, smallsat, space life science, Ustilago maydis FB1, γD-crystallin

Development and Demonstration of a Modular Astrobiological Experiments (MAEx) Payload for Autonomous Biological Monitoring in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) — The primary structural framework is fabricated from Al 6061 alloy, while the biological and electrochemical chambers are constructed from polycarbonate. Printed circuit boards (PCBs) are manufactured using FR4 fiberglass-reinforced epoxy laminate due to its mechanical strength, electrical insulation, and flame-retardant properties. MAEx follows a fully modular, non-welded structural design in which all components are assembled using fasteners, spacers, and interlocking structural elements. The three experimental modules are vertically stacked using spacers for mechanical separation and subsystem protection, while electronic boards are mounted within a dedicated cage structure secured to the payload walls. These strategies provide structural rigidity, thermal isolation, and vibration tolerance during launch conditions. induced vibrations while also maintaining appropriate thermal and electrical isolation between subsystems. — astro-ph.IM

The spaceflight environment presents unique physicochemical conditions, including microgravity, ionizing radiation, altered fluid transport, and confined engineered habitats, which influence biological systems and biomolecular assembly processes.

These conditions also provide opportunities for orbital biomanufacturing and autonomous biofabrication that are difficult to reproduce under terrestrial gravity, motivating the development of compact autonomous experimental platforms for spaceflight research.

Here, we present the Modular Astrobiology Experiment (MAEx) platform, a compact 3U spaceflight-compatible payload designed for autonomous multimodal biological characterization under space-relevant conditions. MAEx was engineered to operate within the constraints of orbital deployment, including limited volume, low power consumption, thermal regulation, and autonomous data acquisition.

To demonstrate platform versatility, representative biological systems, including the electroactive bacterium Shewanella oneidensis MR-1, the radiation-resistant fungus Ustilago maydis FB1, and the human eye lens protein γD-crystallin, spanning cellular and molecular scales were incorporated.

MAEx platform integrates imaging, absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy, and electrochemical sensing within a modular architecture, enabling simultaneous monitoring of microbial growth, extracellular electron transfer (EET), and protein aggregation dynamics.

Yamini Jangir, Samrat Ghosh, Vinay Nayaka, Mubashir Ali, Dharshan Hegde, Kunal Mooley, Arunima Saha, Hariharan VC, Sujata Malik, Amey Bagare, Saurav Mishra, Mukuljeet Singh Mehrolia, Saravanan Matheswaran, Ashwani Kumar Thakur

Comments: 26 main pages, 10 main figure, 4 Supplementary pages, 1 Supplementary Table, 4 Supplementary figures
Subjects: Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM)
Cite as: arXiv:2605.29308 [astro-ph.IM] (or arXiv:2605.29308v1 [astro-ph.IM] for this version)
https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2605.29308
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Submission history
From: Yamini Jangir
[v1] Thu, 28 May 2026 03:40:12 UTC (1,342 KB)
https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.29308
Astrobiology, Space Biology,

Keith Cowing

Biologist, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA Space Biologist and Payload integrator, Editor of NASAWatch.com and Astrobiology.com, Lapsed climber, Explorer, Synaesthete, Former Challenger Center board member 🖖🏻

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