Luxembourg Companies Partner for Biotech Space Missions

Luxembourg-based companies Exobiosphere Sàrl and Space Cargo Unlimited announced on Monday 16 June 2025, the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to launch joint space missions focused on high-throughput biotechnology research. 

Space biotech company Exobiosphere Sàrl specialises in High-throughput screening (HTS), a drug discovery process that allows for the rapid testing of thousands of chemical compounds to identify potential new medicines. 

According to Exobiosphere, the agreement, signed at the Paris Air Show (Paris, France), signifies a shared commitment to deploy Exobiosphere’s Orbital High-Throughput Screening (OHTS) platform aboard Space Cargo Unlimited’s BentoBox platform, across several flights and with return-to-Earth capability enabled. The collaboration aims to offer Europe its first truly sovereign, end-to-end drug discovery and biomedical screening capability in low Earth orbit.

Space Cargo Unlimited’s BentoBox, described as a modular orbital platform purpose-built to advance microgravity research and in-space manufacturing, will host Exobiosphere’s payloads across a series of missions.

CEO of Exobiosphere, Kyle Acierno, said: ”With this MoU, we are creating Europe’s first fully integrated bio-research mission architecture.” He added: "From ground to orbit and back, Exobiosphere and Space Cargo Unlimited are building the next frontier of pharmaceutical innovation - faster, more accurate and truly sovereign. This is a major step forward for European biotech leadership in space."

Exobiosphere have announced that the first joint mission is targeted for launch in 2026.

"Space Cargo Unlimited has always believed that space is the next frontier for biotechnology," said Nicolas Gaume, CEO of Space Cargo Unlimited. He remarked: “Partnering with Exobiosphere allows us to concretely deliver on this promise. Our BentoBox platform, with its defining subsystems and frequent schedule of launch, paired with the OHTS system, offers pharmaceutical and life science customers across Europe a dedicated, autonomous orbital lab. It delivers real-time data and greater control than legacy ISS-based (International Space Station) methods, along with the speed and repeatability needed to bring space biotech to market.”

By combining Space Cargo Unlimited’s logistics and infrastructure with Exobiosphere’s biotechnology expertise, the two companies said they hope to create a “unique ecosystem that can serve pharmaceutical, academic and government stakeholders seeking novel R&D capabilities” and “reflects both companies’ commitment to advancing European autonomy in space-based science and to making space a viable laboratory for the next generation of therapies”.