Biological samples sent by Saudi Arabia — the first of their kind from the Middle East — are bound for the International Space Station on the BioGravity-1 mission aboard SpaceX CRS-35. Launched by the Saudi Space Agency (SSA) and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) with NASA support, they are part of a long-term programme aimed at supporting the fight against Alzheimer's disease and multiple sclerosis.

This first phase carries reference human samples from healthy donors, which will serve as a baseline for comparison, and uses microgravity to examine cellular changes linked to ageing and neurodegenerative disease. KAUST developed two experiments for it, SSA-1 and SSA-2. A second mission will study models derived from Alzheimer's and MS patients, and a third will look at treatment response and possible drug targets.

Partners include the US-based National Stem Cell Foundation (NSCF) and Axiom Space, with NASA support, alongside the SSA and KAUST.

Saudi astronaut Rayyanah Barnawi, who oversees microgravity research at the SSA, described the launch as an important step in using space to serve human health, adding that the programme seeks to turn knowledge gained in orbit into research that deepens understanding of disease and supports future treatments. KAUST bioscience professor Imed Gallouzi, the project's lead scientist, said the mission lets researchers test disease models in conditions that cannot be reproduced on Earth.

Dr. Pinar Mesci, scientific adviser to the NSCF and Axiom Space's global head of biomanufacturing and biotechnology, said her team would test the "Brain Organoid Village" concept in microgravity for the first time; combining several cell lines in a single organoid allows population-level studies, or what she called "clinical trials in a dish". The programme is part of the SSA's work to build Saudi capabilities in microgravity and life sciences research under Saudi Vision 2030.