Abstract EANA2026-77

This interdisciplinary study reports the design and integration of a 2.5U capsule developed for the first commercial Polish mission to investigate the effects of rocket launch conditions on biological samples hosted in three distinct transport carriers. The findings advance methodologies for the orbital delivery of viable biological materials while mitigating the risks associated with late-access operations. Transporting living biological samples remains a significant challenge due to complex pre-launch procedures and early payload integration, typically required approximately one month prior to liftoff, which has historically restricted orbital experiments to highly resilient organisms, limiting both sample diversity and experimental scope. The mission utilized four complementary systems combining active and passive protection, including liquid, agarose, encapsulated, and lab-on-chip media. Experiments were conducted within two temperature-controlled chambers—maintained at 21 °C with LED illumination for photosynthetic organisms, and at 36 °C for bacterial and cellular assays—addressing a unique thermal management challenge through integrated sensor-based control. The biological samples were successfully validated both in the stratosphere and onboard the PERUN rocket in the near-space environment.