The commercial space industry is rapidly expanding, and the barriers to using space environments for biomedical research are expected to lower significantly in the near future. In a recent exclusive development, CAS Space and Guangzhou Laboratory have reached a partnership in the field of space biomedicine, jointly developing space-based pharmaceutical payloads. The goal is to establish capabilities for protein and small-molecule drug crystallization experiments, while also building the technical foundation for long-duration orbital experiments in the future.

The jointly developed pharmaceutical payloads are aimed at advancing new drug research for major diseases such as lung cancer and cardiovascular conditions. These payloads are scheduled to conduct suborbital flight validation aboard the Lihong-2 reusable launch vehicle in the first quarter of 2027, exploring new drug creation under microgravity conditions and answering fundamental "questions of life" in space.

"Space biomedicine is not a new topic. Previously, this field was primarily research-driven, but now it has reached the critical point of industrialization," said Wang Yingcheng, Executive Deputy Director of the Innovation Research Institute at CAS Space, in an interview. He emphasized that for commercial space and biomedicine to converge successfully, launch frequency must be high enough to support iterative R&D and manufacturing, and costs must be low enough to make commercialization viable. If costs remain prohibitively high, the field will struggle to achieve commercial feasibility.

Shifting from "Seeking Answers" to "Seeking Output"

The field of space biomedicine is transitioning from laboratory validation to the exploration phase of industrialization. This shift is driven by the accelerated development of precision biomedical equipment and the rapid formation of space service capabilities. At the Xu Qiang Research Group of Guangzhou Laboratory, a "full-field cell imaging instrument" has been developed jointly by CAS Space and the laboratory. This device is compact and lightweight, with its main body small enough to be held in one hand. Making payloads lighter, smaller, and more energy-efficient while maintaining imaging resolution exemplifies the direction of space biomedicine industrialization.

Compared to ground-based experiments, space biomedicine tests incur higher costs, face greater challenges in data reproducibility, and require more effort to ensure high experimental success rates. The expansion of commercial aerospace capacity presents new opportunities for this field's industrialization. In May, CAS Space inaugurated its Innovation Research Institute in Guangzhou, focusing on three major directions: space manufacturing, reusable Earth-to-orbit transportation systems, and new propulsion products. Wang Yingcheng's research specializes in reusable launch vehicle and spacecraft design, as well as space manufacturing. Space manufacturing primarily involves developing payload equipment, such as pharmaceutical payloads, 3D printing payloads, and space material manufacturing systems.

Regarding the collaboration with Guangzhou Laboratory, Wang Yingcheng stated that the core task at this stage is jointly developing space pharmaceutical payloads, with the goal of achieving protein and small-molecule drug crystallization capabilities and accumulating technical experience for future long-duration orbital experiments. Established in 2021 under the leadership of academician Zhong Nanshan, Guangzhou Laboratory focuses on respiratory diseases and their prevention and control. It is a key component of national strategic scientific strength and a core hub for original biomedical innovation, major scientific breakthroughs, and technology transfer in Guangdong. The primary collaborator with CAS Space is the research team led by Xu Qiang.

Xu Qiang explained that Guangzhou Laboratory defines the scientific questions related to drug crystallization, handles experimental protocols, sample preparation, ground controls, and result analysis, while converting mature biomedical automation functions and in-situ observation capabilities into payload requirements. CAS Space is responsible for the space platform, environmental conditions, system interfaces, launch and recovery operations, and mission organization. Together, they undertake payload engineering design. From an industrialization perspective, this cross-sector collaboration between commercial aerospace and biomedicine is exploring a tightly integrated cooperation model with shared mechanisms, laying the groundwork for routine future experiments and production.

The development process will follow a closed-loop approach: "requirements freeze, scheme design, prototype integration, ground control, environmental testing, flight execution, sample handover, and joint analysis." Standards for payload interfaces, sample transport processes, and biosafety protocols for space biological experiments have already been established to some extent. However, Wang Yingcheng noted that what still needs to be developed are dedicated, operable, cross-platform full-process specifications for commercial space biomedicine, including modular payload interfaces, sample identity and temperature control chains, sterility and sealing validation, in-orbit anomaly handling, return handover, data integrity, and how space experiment results can be integrated into pharmaceutical R&D quality systems. CAS Space is actively promoting standardization efforts, with standardized payload interfaces designed from the outset to support rapid swapping, repeated flights, and multi-user compatibility.

Policy Support and Industrial Resources as Dual Drivers

"The partnership with Guangzhou Laboratory originated from discussions around applying for the national landmark scenario program, with the Guangzhou municipal government playing a bridging role. During the first exchange, both sides quickly discovered highly complementary needs," Wang Yingcheng told reporters. CAS Space has already established a joint space medicine research center with the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University and is pursuing joint exploration of space biomanufacturing with teams from the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Sun Yat-sen University. Current priorities include stem cell-related experiments and the development of rodent experimental apparatus. In such collaborations, hospital and life science teams pose scientific questions, while aerospace teams transform experiments into engineering systems capable of withstanding launch environments, operating autonomously in microgravity, and supporting post-return analysis. The addition of Guangzhou Laboratory further connects drug development, scientific instruments, and space platforms.

Leveraging its pioneering advantages from reform and opening-up, Guangdong provides strong policy support and industrial foundations for space biopharmaceuticals. The "Guangdong Province Action Plan for High-Quality Development of Commercial Aerospace (2024–2028)" explicitly calls for broadening the space economy, including forward-looking deployment of space manufacturing and space biomedicine. Guangdong boasts an active market and industrial capital, a complete advanced manufacturing and electronics supply chain, a concentrated biomedical industry, and expanding commercial aerospace capacity. These industrial foundations strongly support the region's exploration of space biomedicine industrialization.

Xu Qiang noted that Guangzhou Laboratory's expertise in respiratory diseases, drug development, and advanced instruments could serve both ground-based public health and provide technical reserves for health support in deep-space missions. "Stable, reliable, and repeatable Earth-to-orbit round-trip capabilities determine whether space pharmaceutical experiments can be repeatedly verified, whether R&D cycles can be shortened, and whether mission costs can be estimated. They also determine whether pharmaceutical companies are willing to genuinely incorporate space experiments into standardized new drug development processes."

According to Wang Yingcheng, CAS Space has incorporated the integrity requirements of innovative drug samples into the overall design of payloads, return capsules, and recovery systems. The company is building not just a single launch capability, but a complete system covering "uplink transport, space experiments, safe return, and ground delivery." Currently, a joint working group has been established between Guangzhou Laboratory and CAS Space, comprising system engineers from CAS Space, equipment development personnel from Xu Qiang's team, and researchers from Guangzhou Laboratory engaged in drug experiments.

"For a new interdisciplinary field, face-to-face discussion of requirements and joint solution development enables rapid iteration. We are also cultivating cross-disciplinary postdoctoral researchers to build a team that understands both medicine and aerospace," Wang Yingcheng explained.

Lowering the Threshold for Biomedical Use of Space Environments

According to Wang Yingcheng, global space pharmaceuticals remain in early stages, with more research projects than scaled commercial products. Access mechanisms, return processes, costs, and regulatory frameworks are still evolving. However, internationally, verifiable progress has been made. The International Space Station has conducted hundreds of protein crystal growth studies; JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) has established fee-for-service offerings; Merck's team has applied insights from space crystallization experiments to optimize ground-based preparation methods; SpaceMD has proposed a seed crystal business model; and Varda has completed in-orbit drug crystallization and return capsule recovery. These achievements demonstrate scientific value and engineering feasibility, though the commercial value of specific drugs and missions still requires case-by-case validation.

Unlike one-off collaborations, Guangzhou Laboratory and CAS Space are pursuing a path through co-development of equipment and shared institutional mechanisms, clarifying viable routes for space biomedicine industrialization and lowering the barriers for the broader biomedical field to utilize space technology services. Xu Qiang, whose academic background is in materials physics and chemistry, told reporters that the primary challenge in space biomedicine industrialization lies in equipment manufacturing. Payload costs are high, so scientific instruments must be made lighter. Space constraints also require compact designs. Additionally, since spacecraft solar panels have limited power output, instruments must be energy-efficient and highly automated.

Developing suitable equipment may only be the first step from space phenomena to pharmaceutical outcomes. Commercial aerospace companies and biomedical research institutions face numerous additional challenges. Xu Qiang believes that the evidence chain still needs completion: "phenomena must be repeatable, mechanisms explainable, ground-based reproduction or utility feasible, pharmaceutical and biological significance clear, safety and efficacy demonstrated, and regulatory approval obtained." Space samples must also rule out confounding factors such as temperature variations, vibration, radiation, transport time, and batch differences. "Could launch and return processes affect the biological activity of drug cells? Could space radiation cause side effects? Can temperature fluctuations be avoided? Is micro-vibration during crystallization controlled?" Transforming "space-made" outcomes into practical results requires clearing multiple hurdles.

Wang Yingcheng explained that both parties will conduct dedicated design for drug samples: establishing unique sample identification and full-process status records; enhancing payload sealing, contamination prevention, temperature maintenance, and shock absorption; real-time monitoring of key environmental parameters during return; and executing rapid, controlled transport procedures post-landing. The goal is to both mitigate recovery impacts on samples and assess sample value through complete data, ensuring "Earth-space consistency."

Reporters learned that CAS Space's future vision for space biomedicine is to build an integrated Earth-space production environment. The roadmap progresses from ground experiments to suborbital flights, then to low Earth orbit, followed by experimental modules, and ultimately a long-term in-orbit space manufacturing facility. Wang Yingcheng outlined the timeline: the Lihong-1 launch vehicle has already achieved suborbital mission success and returnable payload recovery this January, validating payload co-development and experiment organization capabilities; the Lihong-2 reusable launch vehicle is scheduled for its first flight in Q1 2027, working with Guangzhou Laboratory and the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University among other industrial partners to complete early-stage space manufacturing technology validation; in 2028, the Lihong-3 reusable spacecraft will complete its first flight, providing microgravity environments for effective space manufacturing payloads of at least 300 kilograms for up to one year, serving as a key vehicle for scaling and industrializing in-orbit manufacturing.