Life sprouts in space, says ISRO as cowpea seeds germinate in 4 days

In a significant milestone for India’s space biology research, cowpea seeds carried onboard the PSLV-C60 POEM-4 platform germinated in space just four days after the launch of the SpaDex mission.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced that leaves are expected to develop soon. This experiment, which studies plant growth in microgravity, is part of the Compact Research Module for Orbital Plant Studies (CROPS) developed by the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC).

CROPS aims to understand how plants grow under microgravity, a critical aspect of India’s future space missions. The experiment involves growing eight cowpea seeds in a controlled environment.

“Life sprouts in space! VSSC’s CROPS experiment onboard PSLV-C60 POEM-4 successfully sprouted cowpea seeds in four days. Leaves expected soon,” ISRO said in a statement.

Cowpea seeds were chosen for the experiment because they sprout within a week. The space agency explained that passive measurements, including camera imaging, oxygen and carbon dioxide concentrations, relative humidity, temperature and soil moisture monitoring, are being used to track plant growth.

ISRO scientists highlighted the experiment’s importance for future human space missions and India’s plans to build a Bharatiya Antariksha Station (Indian Space Station).

“Understanding space-based agriculture is crucial for missions like Gaganyaan. No country shares such technologies, making this achievement significant for India,” one scientist noted.

In addition to CROPS, the POEM module carries experiments involving the growth of gut bacteria and spinach cells.

Meanwhile, ISRO’s SpaDex Chaser satellite has successfully captured its first high-quality video of Earth from an altitude of around 400 km, demonstrating its advanced imaging capabilities.

The space agency is preparing for a historic joint docking operation with the Chaser satellite, scheduled for January 7.