2024
Space milestones
IPERDRONE.0 enters orbit
The 6U nanosatellite built by the consortium formed by CIRA, Tyvak International and Kayser Italia is launched on 16 August. The mission tests rendezvous and orbital proximity operations technologies, broadening Kayser’s experience in autonomous systems and small satellites.
Kayser works on the spectrometer for LUPEX
Kayser participates in the development of EMSL, Exploration Mass Spectrometer for LUPEX, as payload prime contractor. The instrument is designed to analyse the lunar exosphere and the volatile compounds released from the soil during rover activities.
Kayser contributes to Euro Material Ageing
Kayser contributes to CNES’s Euro Material Ageing (EMA) external exposure platform, dedicated to studying the physical, mechanical and surface properties of materials, coatings and organic molecules before and after a stay in orbit. The company develops the entire avionics and harnesses of SESAME, the main system that hosts 45 scientific samples and interfaces with IR-COASTER, the module dedicated to exobiology. EMA is launched on 4 November aboard SpaceX CRS-31 and installed on 15 November on the ISS external Bartolomeo platform, with an expected operational duration of around one year.
Chang’e 6 returns samples from the far side of the Moon
The Chinese mission returns to Earth the first samples collected from the side of the Moon not visible from our planet.
Missions & Payloads
AX-3
Third private crewed mission to the International Space Station. The four astronauts conduct scientific, technological and educational activities during approximately three weeks in orbit.
IMMUNE CELL ACTIVATION
Biomedical experiment dedicated to studying, in microgravity, the interaction between magnetic nanoparticles, immune system cells and tumour cells. It uses miniaturised bioreactors containing immune cells and nanoparticles, designed to activate the protocol automatically and preserve samples for post-flight analysis. One hypothesis is that reduced sedimentation in microgravity may promote nanoparticle uptake by T and B lymphocytes, allowing further investigation of the cellular mechanisms involved.
CYGNUS NG-20
Twentieth Cygnus resupply mission to the International Space Station and the first launched on a Falcon 9. It transports over three tonnes of experiments, hardware and supplies. After release from the ISS on 12 July 2024, it concludes the mission with a destructive re-entry into the atmosphere.
EURO MATERIAL AGEING
European external exposure platform developed under CNES leadership to study the behaviour of materials, coatings and organic molecules in the space environment. It allows their properties to be compared before and after a stay in orbit. It comprises two main systems: SESAME and IR-COASTER. SESAME studies the ageing of passive and active materials exposed to the vacuum, radiation and thermal variations of Earth orbit. IR-COASTER is dedicated to exposing organic molecules of exobiological interest to ultraviolet and cosmic radiation and vacuum.
SpaceX CRS-31
Dragon capsule cargo mission to the International Space Station. It delivers experiments, supplies and hardware and returns thousands of kilograms of scientific samples and materials to Earth.
PROMETEO-2
Second campaign of the experiment by the Italian Space Agency and the Italian Institute of Technology dedicated to the effects of microgravity and cosmic radiation on neuronal cells. It uses automated biological units to assess the possibility of counteracting oxidative stress using cerium oxide nanoparticles, or nanoceria. It reaches the ISS as part of the Ax-3 mission, launched on 18 January 2024. On board, Walter Villadei installs the Experiment Containers in the KUBIK facility.