From Plantains to Spacecraft: Seven Puerto Rico Research Projects Head to the International Space Station

Seven research teams are getting ready for take-off to launch their scientific experiments beyond Earth’s atmosphere after receiving grants from the Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research Trust to conduct research aboard the International Space Station, in an initiative aimed at expanding the island’s participation in the global aerospace and biotechnology industries.

The Trust awarded seven grants of $50,000 each through its Advanced Research Grant: Space Edition 2026 program, representing $350,000 in direct research funding. The program will also cover the costs associated with sending the selected experiments to space, bringing the total commitment beyond the grant awards.

“We are excited to grant this opportunity to seven local scientists because it will show the world the caliber of scientific research being done in Puerto Rico. It demonstrates that our scientists have the capacity to take their work to the next level,” said Dr. Natasha De León Rodríguez, director of the Research Grants Program.

The grants benefit an aerospace sector that the government’s investment promotion agency, Invest Puerto Rico, says has grown 62% over five years, adding more than 8,200 jobs. The agency does not source that figure.

A study by the economic research firm Estudios Técnicos, which surveyed 23 aerospace companies and was published in May, found that the companies expect to expand their workforces within 12 to 36 months, but that engineering and aviation salaries on the island are estimated at 30% to 60% below those in California, Florida and Texas, a gap that makes recruiting difficult.

What the island gains from this program is not yet a launch industry. It is a growing pipeline of researchers, a set of partnerships with commercial space firms and a test of whether public research money can turn into jobs and export revenue.

The program, in collaboration with Rhodium Scientific, a commercial space biotechnology company, helps the scientists prepare their projects for space, but the seven researchers don’t join the mission.

Aboard the ISS, astronauts will be assisting in conducting the experiments. The program is funded by Puerto Rico’s Department of Economic Development and Commerce (DDEC).

According to De León, the program has seen a substantial rise in interest in space research from Puerto Rican scientists, as only four research proposals were presented in the program’s first edition in 2024, and now, a total of 16 projects applied, representing a fourfold increase.

“This shows us how there’s a growing interest among scientists in exploring applications for their work in microgravity environments. It’s exciting because researchers from disciplines not traditionally associated with aerospace science are now exploring how their work could benefit from space experimentation,” she added.

The research, from crops to materials

The selected project disciplines span across agriculture, biotechnology, materials science, biological development and diagnostics. Research topics include manufacturing materials in space, repairing spacecraft and lunar habitats, adapting plantains to space conditions, using Caribbean sargassum for oral health applications, studying yeast and butterfly wings as biological models, and developing liquid crystal sensors capable of detecting substances without the need for markers.

Since childhood, Dr. Christopher A. Sambolín-Pérez was fascinated with NASA and all things aerospace, so when his plantain tissue culture research project got selected to be developed in outer space, he could barely believe it.

After working on the project for six years at the Inter American University of Puerto Rico’s Barranquitas campus, where he is a professor, his mentor, Dr. Rosado Rodríguez, suggested he apply to the program. He never thought his own research could reach the ISS, but now, he is excited about what the research could find.

For Sambolín, plantains are important to food security, nutrition and agricultural economies in many parts of the world. They are particularly relevant in Puerto Rico, where plantains are a culturally and economically important crop.

Because of their size and growth cycle, plantains present challenges for space research, which is why he will use in vitro plant tissue culture, allowing his team to work with small plantlets approximately 4 to 5 centimeters tall, allowing researchers to study how plant tissues respond to the unique conditions of spaceflight.

The project has big implications, as its findings could contribute to a better understanding of how plants respond to environmental stress. With threats like climate change and emerging crop diseases already affecting banana and plantain crops in places like Venezuela and Colombia, the project could be imperative to protecting Puerto Rico’s plantain industry.

“This research offers a unique opportunity to understand how these crops respond to microgravity. We hope to determine whether certain responses to spaceflight are temporary, reversible or maintained across subsequent generations of plant propagation,” the researcher said.

Even though the program received more applications this time around, these are not the first research projects being sent to outer space from Puerto Rico. The Trust’s inaugural space research cohort included Rhodium StemCell 01, led by University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez researcher Maribella Domenech, which the Trust says was the first Trust-funded mission to reach space when it launched aboard SpaceX’s CRS-31 cargo mission in November 2024. Another project from the initial cohort, led by David Suleiman Rosado, focuses on water purification technologies for space environments.

For De León, this initiative helps local researchers gain experience with international space research and pursue opportunities that may previously have seemed inaccessible. Sambolín-Pérez’s team includes researchers from the Netherlands and California, and having that international dimension supports the Trust’s goal of positioning Puerto Rico as a participant in global scientific innovation.

For Sambolín-Pérez, the opportunity represents more than fulfilling a childhood fascination with space. It is a chance to demonstrate that research developed in Puerto Rico can contribute to scientific discoveries with implications far beyond the laboratory: from understanding how crops adapt to environmental stress to exploring the possibility of growing food during future space missions.

“I just hope that this inspires young Puerto Rican students to let their curiosity run wild and that world-class scientific research can be developed on the island. I hope that seeing locally developed research reach space encourages them to pursue careers in this field,” the researcher concluded.

What the island gains from this program is not yet a launch industry. It is a growing pipeline of researchers, a set of partnerships with commercial space firms and a test of whether public research money can turn into jobs and export revenue.

Private capital, new infrastructure

The public research push is arriving alongside private investment. In late August, Laser Light Holdings said Keystone Optical Network had committed up to $75 million to the company, which is planning a constellation of medium Earth orbit satellites it calls HALO. CB first reported the commitment on Sept. 1. The company’s Puerto Rico unit, Laser Light Caribe, will be headquartered on the island and plans to employ 40 people.

Laser Light also plans a weather data and analytics pilot in Puerto Rico, with the Department of Education and the Department of Commerce as named partners, according to the company.

CB’s Sept. 14 report on Laser Light’s request for information lays out how local firms could take part. The company is seeking suppliers in optical satellite payloads, spacecraft bus components, optical terminals, sky-sensing technology, ground network infrastructure and operations centers.

“This is open, it’s real, and the timeline is tight,” said Gail Nolan, chief executive of Laser Light Caribe and president of the Puerto Rico Aerospace Council. The published schedule set Oct. 2 for expressions of interest and Nov. 2 for detailed responses. Satellites would be operational within 30 to 36 months of an order.

Infrastructure is the harder part. The former Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in Ceiba has been mentioned as a spaceport site since 2023. In December 2024, the base’s Local Redevelopment Authority issued a request for proposals for a vertical launch facility on about 66 acres at Punta Medio Mundo, with proposals due in April 2025.