Space Exploration
Space Exploration
Space Exploration
May 5-8

2025

San Jose Convention Center
California, USA

May 5-8

2025

San Jose Convention Center

California, USA

About

As humanity stands on the precipice of expanding its habitat beyond terrestrial confines, the role of synthetic biology in facilitating such extraterrestrial existence becomes increasingly paramount. Venturing into the vast expanse of space necessitates innovative solutions for air regeneration, aqueous purification, alimentary production, self-repairing habitats, medical sustenance, and even genetic data storage. With its transformative capabilities, synthetic biology emerges as the linchpin to ensure prolonged human subsistence in such challenging celestial environments.

Agenda

Agenda

Monday

May 05

Tuesday

May 06

Wednesday

May 07
Space and Defense: Synthetic Biology Moonshots
4:30 PM

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5:15 PM

This session explores the powerful alliance of space and defense organizations driving the future of off-world biotechnology. Participants will delve into cutting-edge research designed to support life on the Moon and Mars, from resource-efficient manufacturing and regenerative life-support systems to the development of resilient biological tools for extreme environments. By addressing the technical and logistical challenges of long-term space habitation, this discussion highlights how breakthroughs in synthetic biology, high-risk research programs, and cross-agency collaboration can redefine our interplanetary ambitions and accelerate humanity’s progress beyond Earth.

Thursday

May 08
Space Biotech - Connecting Science to Space through SynBio, the Rhodium Space BioBankTM, and the world's first Orbital-Earth Reentry Vehicle dedicated to Biomanufacturing
11:05 AM

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11:09 AM

Rhodium Scientific, as America's first commercial space biotech company and DARPA's in-space biomanufacturing performer, we've created the scientific path to increase biomanufacturing in space through: 1) the Rhodium Space BioBankTM and 2) Zephyr, a Biomanufacturing orbital to Earth-return spaceflight vehicle in partnership with Intuitive Machines. The Rhodium Space Biobank currently contains over 1,500 specimens of spaceflight-flown samples. Rhodium will continuously bank biological and advanced material space samples on every rocket launching to the ISS from now until 2032. For the Zephyr vehicle, Rhodium is responsible for 100kg of Biomanufacturing payload design, science inputs, and client pipeline. We are in the critical design phase, looking for input and collaboration from biomanufacturing stakeholders, miniaturized (robust) analytics, and an AI science component These near-term solutions will enable the rise, access and advancement of commercial bioscience in space.

Engineering the first bioprocess for Mars - updates from Pioneer Labs
11:25 AM

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11:39 AM

Pioneer Labs builds technologies for a green human civilization—starting with Mars. I’ll describe our first product, a refrigerator-sized device that turns Martian regolith, water, and atmosphere into bioplastic, and how we’re getting there by generating large public datasets of microbial phenotypes to guide engineering.

Space Therapies: Accelerating Biotech Solutions for Health Beyond Earth
2:30 PM

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3:15 PM

Space is among the harshest and least hospitable environments for humans. Every human biological system is affected by the space environment. The biological stress has a deleterious impact on health and physical capabilities, and the extreme conditions and isolation take a significant toll on mental performance and behavior. By 2040, hundreds of people will be in space at any given time, and more than 80% of those are predicted to be private citizens; for the reliability, safety, health, and enjoyment of those private participants, new solutions and therapeutics are needed to maintain health and wellbeing.

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