Assessing the susceptibility of microalgae to space conditions using stratospheric balloons
4 affiliations
- 1Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Mendel University in Brno
- 2Valašské Meziříčí Observatory
- 3Spacemanic Ltd
- 4Department of Informatics, Mendel University in Brno
Abstract
Biological exposure experiments under near-space conditions remain limited by the high cost and low accessibility of spaceflight platforms, motivating low-cost analog approaches for initial screening. Stratospheric balloon flights offer a practical route to near-space exposure experiments relevant to space biology and astrobiology. Here we report an exploratory assessment of four green microalgae (Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, Chlorella vulgaris, Scenedesmus obliquus, and Parachlorella kessleri) flown in a custom-built ~ 2 kg payload equipped with heating, LED illumination, UV sensing, and GPS. Thirty-six microalgal samples (4 mL each) were flown during a ~ 2.5 h stratospheric mission, including ~ 30–60 min at 25–35 km altitude, within a total mission cost of < $4000. In total, 54 microalgal cuvettes were flown in two stratospheric missions to evaluate post-flight integrity, and recovered samples were recultivated under standardized conditions and analyzed two weeks post-flight for pigment composition and antioxidant-related parameters. After flight, 29/54 samples (53.7%) were classified as visually undamaged after landing, while damage was associated with freezing (13/54; 24.1%), thermal damage (13/54; 24.1%, partly overlapping), loss due to containment failure (5/54; 9.3%), or non-recoverable material (3/54; 5.6%). In recultivated biomass, Near-space-exposed cultures showed significant shifts in pigment profiles (reduced chlorophyll a and/or b in multiple species) and increased total antioxidant capacity, indicating persistent physiological differences following the mission workflow. These results provide quantitative benchmarks for microalgal near-space exposure using a low-cost balloon platform and motivate follow-up studies with higher replication and direct functional stress readouts.
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BibTeX
@article{molnarova2026assessing,
title = {{Assessing the susceptibility of microalgae to space conditions using stratospheric balloons}},
author = {Katarína Molnárová and Lukáš Mikša and Jan Zítka and Jan Šílený and Martin Füleky and Ondřej Pěnčík and Libor Lenža and Martina Koláčková and Vedran Milosavljević and Jakub Kapuš and Oldřich Trenz and Michaela Veselá and Radim Farana},
journal = {Scientific Reports},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1038/s41598-026-62687-w},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-62687-w},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Assessing the susceptibility of microalgae to space conditions using stratospheric balloons
AU - Katarína Molnárová
AU - Lukáš Mikša
AU - Jan Zítka
AU - Jan Šílený
AU - Martin Füleky
AU - Ondřej Pěnčík
AU - Libor Lenža
AU - Martina Koláčková
AU - Vedran Milosavljević
AU - Jakub Kapuš
AU - Oldřich Trenz
AU - Michaela Veselá
AU - Radim Farana
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/01
JO - Scientific Reports
DO - 10.1038/s41598-026-62687-w
UR - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-62687-w
AB - Biological exposure experiments under near-space conditions remain limited by the high cost and low accessibility of spaceflight platforms, motivating low-cost analog approaches for initial screening. Stratospheric balloon flights offer a practical route to near-space exposure experiments relevant to space biology and astrobiology. Here we report an exploratory assessment of four green microalgae (Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, Chlorella vulgaris, Scenedesmus obliquus, and Parachlorella kessleri) flown in a custom-built ~ 2 kg payload equipped with heating, LED illumination, UV sensing, and GPS. Thirty-six microalgal samples (4 mL each) were flown during a ~ 2.5 h stratospheric mission, including ~ 30–60 min at 25–35 km altitude, within a total mission cost of < $4000. In total, 54 microalgal cuvettes were flown in two stratospheric missions to evaluate post-flight integrity, and recovered samples were recultivated under standardized conditions and analyzed two weeks post-flight for pigment composition and antioxidant-related parameters. After flight, 29/54 samples (53.7%) were classified as visually undamaged after landing, while damage was associated with freezing (13/54; 24.1%), thermal damage (13/54; 24.1%, partly overlapping), loss due to containment failure (5/54; 9.3%), or non-recoverable material (3/54; 5.6%). In recultivated biomass, Near-space-exposed cultures showed significant shifts in pigment profiles (reduced chlorophyll a and/or b in multiple species) and increased total antioxidant capacity, indicating persistent physiological differences following the mission workflow. These results provide quantitative benchmarks for microalgal near-space exposure using a low-cost balloon platform and motivate follow-up studies with higher replication and direct functional stress readouts.
SN - 2045-2322
ER -