Payloads Archive
Explore the payloads that have shaped Kayser’s journey in space.
A collection of technologies, experiments and hardware developed for missions across four decades.
LAPEX
LAPEX (Large-Area Phoswich Experiment) is an instrument designed to observe cosmic sources in the X-ray band between 20 and 300 keV, including supernova SN 1987A. It uses “phoswich” detectors, which can distinguish useful signals from background noise. Carried by a stratospheric balloon, it collects data on high-energy emissions to study the phenomena that produce them.
MITE
MITE (Maser Interfacial Tension Experiment) is a fluid physics experiment that measures interfacial tension in microgravity, namely the force per unit length acting on the boundary between two liquids that do not mix. Through capillary pressure measurements and observations of droplet growth, it studies the behaviour of liquids and the instabilities that may develop.
BIOBOX 1
BIOBOX 1 is an automatic, programmable biological laboratory equipped with temperature control, data acquisition and a centrifuge capable of generating artificial gravity of 1 g. This configuration allows samples exposed to microgravity to be compared with control samples maintained at 1 g. The laboratory makes its first flight on the Russian Bion-10 capsule, also known as Cosmos 2229, between December 1992 and January 1993, hosting European cell biology experiments. Kayser Italia participates as a subcontractor, handling, among other activities, the control and power electronics, electronics housing and ground support equipment.
BIOPAN 0
BIOPAN-0 is the initial demonstrator of an external facility designed to expose biological samples and materials to the space environment. Once in orbit, a lid opens to expose the experiments to vacuum, solar and cosmic radiation, ultraviolet rays and atomic oxygen, before closing again prior to re-entry. The demonstrator flies in October 1992 on the recoverable Foton-8 capsule, with the aim of verifying the operation of the platform and several pilot experiments. The design and construction of this first version are entrusted to Kayser-Threde.
SM
SM is the TEXUS payload service module, designed to support and manage the experimental modules during flight. It provides scientific data acquisition and transmission to Earth, telemetry and telecommand, attitude control and monitoring of microgravity conditions. During the TEXUS 31 mission, it supports four physics and materials science experiments, dedicated to the wettability of the semiconductor alloy GaInSb; bubble nucleation, growth and evaporation; the coagulation of suspensions and colloids; and Marangoni instabilities, associated with fluid motion induced by variations in surface tension.
TEMISAT
TEMISAT, an acronym for Telespazio Micro Satellite, is a microsatellite weighing around 40–42 kg, designed to collect and retransmit environmental data from remote ground stations. It uses a “store and forward” system: it stores the data received as it passes over the stations and subsequently transmits them to collection centres. It is launched on 31 August 1993 from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome as a secondary payload alongside the Russian weather satellite Meteor-2-21, and reaches a polar orbit at an altitude of approximately 950 km.
BIOPAN 1
BIOPAN is a reusable platform developed for ESA, designed to expose small biological experiments directly to the space environment. It consists of a circular container mounted on the outer surface of the Foton capsule. Once orbit is reached, a motorised lid opens, exposing the samples to the vacuum of space, unfiltered solar radiation and cosmic rays, under microgravity conditions. Before re-entry, the lid closes again to protect the experiments from high temperatures. The platform is approximately 38 cm in diameter and 23 cm high, and can accommodate up to around 3.5 kg of experiments. The BIOPAN-1 flight hosts experiments in radiobiology, dosimetry, exobiology and prebiotic chemistry.
BIOBOX 2
BIOBOX-2 is an automatic incubator for cell biology experiments in microgravity, developed as part of ESA’s BIOBOX programme. It maintains samples in a temperature-controlled environment between approximately 6 and 37 °C, has telemetry and telecommand capabilities and can accommodate up to 24 experimental containers. An internal centrifuge generates an acceleration of 1 g, allowing samples exposed to microgravity to be compared, during the same flight, with control samples maintained under conditions equivalent to Earth’s gravity.
BIORACK
ESA multidisciplinary facility for life sciences experiments. It includes incubators, a glovebox for handling samples and refrigerated systems for preserving cells, tissues, microorganisms and small organisms before and after experiments. Used in the Spacelab laboratory aboard the Space Shuttle, it enables the effects of microgravity on living systems to be studied.
GABRIEL
Fluid physics payload developed by Kayser Italia to study boiling and heat transfer in microgravity in the presence of an electric field. It comprises two experimental chambers, high-voltage electrodes and video systems to observe bubble formation and detachment. In 1996, it flies aboard the MASER-7 sounding rocket. The experiment investigates how to control boiling when gravity no longer assists bubble detachment and movement, contributing to research into space thermal systems.
GABRIEL
Experimental system dedicated to studying boiling under reduced gravity and in the presence of an electric field. During the campaign aboard the Cessna Citation II, the apparatus is subjected to different acceleration levels to observe how bubble formation and detachment change as buoyancy decreases. The campaign comprises 41 usable parabolas, each with around 10 seconds of microgravity.