Nine scientific experiments will be carried to China's space station aboard the Shenzhou-23 manned spacecraft. The total weight of the experimental samples and equipment is approximately 54 kilograms, including materials such as liver cells, rice and Arabidopsis seeds, nanozymes, actinomycetes, and perovskite solar cells.

The focus of the Shenzhou-23 mission is to conduct space experiments on two types of perovskite solar cell materials and devices. Perovskite cells are a new type of photovoltaic cell, fundamentally different from the dry cells commonly encountered in daily life or the batteries used in new energy vehicles. Most batteries we encounter are energy storage types that cannot generate electricity themselves. In contrast, perovskite cells belong to the third generation of photovoltaic technology, capable of directly converting absorbed light into electrical energy without the need for pre-charging and energy storage, offering numerous advantages.

Perovskite cells feature a very high power-to-mass ratio, along with characteristics such as being lightweight, thin, and flexible, with relatively low processing costs. As a result, they are considered the most promising new energy technology for industrial application among the latest photovoltaic advancements. Due to their significant advantages, perovskite cells are a key candidate for providing energy to China's space station and deep-space bases. To determine whether perovskite cells can withstand the challenges of the space environment—including ultraviolet and particle radiation, high concentrations of atomic oxygen corrosion, and more extreme temperature fluctuations—space science experiments are necessary. The Shenzhou-23 mission will carry materials and devices for both single-junction perovskite and perovskite-based tandem solar cells. This will mark the first dynamic service experiment for perovskite cells on China's space station, aiming to collect data on the degradation of conversion efficiency under real-space extreme conditions.

The perovskite solar cell experiments will help better study the performance evolution and failure mechanisms of perovskite materials and devices under extreme environments such as space spectrum, high-energy particle irradiation, atomic oxygen, and high-low temperature cycling. The goal is to advance high-efficiency, high power-to-mass ratio, low-cost flexible space photovoltaic technology, providing key technological reserves for future energy system configurations in low-orbit satellites, deep-space exploration, and lunar bases.

Rice will undergo "secondary sowing" on China's space station. As humans spend increasingly longer periods living and working in space, achieving efficient, high-quality, and high-yield in-situ production of space crops is a critical scientific challenge. In the upcoming experiments, the space life science study "Molecular Mechanism of Multi-Generation Genetic Stability and Environmental Adaptability Regulation in Space Rice" will use rice seeds that have not undergone space flight experiments to obtain offspring in orbit. This will be the first in-orbit cultivation of two consecutive generations of rice, analyzing the effects of long-term space microgravity on rice genetic stability, identifying new genes with significant application value, and providing new methods for expanding the acquisition of new crop germplasm resources.

Previously, China's space rice experiments involved bringing seeds from the ground to the space station. After one generation of growth, the seeds were returned to Earth for further research. The "secondary sowing" this time involves using rice seeds brought to space: after the rice grows, the harvested seeds will be sown again by astronauts to cultivate a second generation. This represents a new highlight of this round of space rice experiments.

In addition to the perovskite cell and rice experiments, the Shenzhou-23 mission will include other space life science studies. One experiment, "Impact of Space Biological Phase Separation on Lipid Metabolism," aims to understand the molecular mechanisms by which microgravity affects lipid metabolism in liver cells from a phase separation perspective, providing potential targets for early intervention and prevention strategies for related fatty liver diseases during long-term space missions. Three other experiments will also be conducted: "Study on the Synthesis and Protection Mechanisms of Biological Macromolecules by Nanozymes," "Study on the Phenotypic and Genetic Impact of Space Environment on Typical Actinomycetes and Its Molecular Mechanisms," and "Analysis of DNA Methylation Regulation Mechanisms in Rice and Arabidopsis Induced by Space Radiation and Microgravity Based on Physical and Biological Radiation Dosimetry." Samples of nanozymes, actinomycetes, and plant seeds will be installed in an extravehicular radiation biology exposure device for a five-month in-orbit exposure experiment. This will systematically reveal the profound effects of space radiation on biological samples, from catalysts for the origin of life to microbial adaptive evolution and genetic variation in higher plants.