Thursday 5 November 2026, 09:30 - 13:00 CET, Confex, Cologne
A workshop at the Joint i-SAIRAS & iSpaRo Conference 2026
Attendance is through conference registration, which closes on 23 October 2026.
In microgravity, the forces that disturb experiments on Earth, such as convection, sedimentation and buoyancy, fall away. That makes it possible to grow near-perfect protein crystals, build 3D tissue models, and make defect-free semiconductors and optical fibre. Today these experiments in orbit still depend on astronauts to run them, and astronaut time is limited.
This half-day workshop brings the materials science, life science, robotics and space communities together to define the robot and automation hardware capabilities needed to scale manufacturing in space. It is a working session: a scene-setting keynote, two breakout discussions, then flash talks and a panel.
Roboticists, life scientists, materials scientists, space roboticists, and space station and platform companies.
09:30 Welcome and introduction, Radhika Gudipati (10 min)
09:40 Keynote (30 min, including 5 min of questions)
Speaker: Dr Meganne Christian, ESA - Reserve Astronaut, Satellite Applications Catapult - Mission Manager for In Space Manufacturing
Title: Out of the Astronaut’s hands: Automating the next era of in-space manufacturing
10:10 Introduction to the breakouts (5 min)
10:15 Breakout Session (60 min)
Two breakout sessions of 30min. Groups swap after the first 30mins. (Please refer Breakout session details below)
Breakout Session 1: Robotics & Automation for Material science in-orbit experiments
Breakout Session 2: Robotics & Automation for Life science in-orbit experiments
11:30 Breakout debrief (10 min)
11:40 Discussion and Q&A (10 min)
11:50 Flash talks: 3-4 talks of 5-6mins each
12:10 Panel discussion (40 min)
12:50 Closure (10 min)
All times are Central European Time. The breakouts are in person only.
Speaker: Dr Meganne Christian, ESA - Reserve Astronaut, Satellite Applications Catapult - Mission Manager for In Space Manufacturing
Title: Out of the Astronaut’s hands: Automating the next era of in-space manufacturing
Abstract: TBA
Speakers: Serendipity Space
Potential speakers contacted: Cosmic Maker, Dcubed, Moliri
Jeremy Hadall (Satellite Applications Catapult), Plastron UK
TBC: ESA, Innovian Space
Organiser and breakout moderator
Science & Technology Lead, ARIA
Organiser
Robotics Development Lead, Satellite Applications Catapult
Breakout moderator
Founding Director & Chief Consultant, Orbit Rise
Read these before the day. Each group discusses one set, then the groups swap.
Robot Manipulation: Non-contact manipulation needs to facilitate purer crystal growth in high temperatures
Robot Control: How can robot control effectively cancel out joint micro-vibrations when the very act of a robotic arm adjusting its position creates a secondary reaction force in microgravity?
Sensors: To cope with extreme heat and radiation in space - best options for sensors - sacrificial vs other modalities (non-line-of-sight sensing like measuring acoustic emissions, electromagnetic monitoring, etc.)
Robot end-effectors: How must end-effectors, pipetting channels, and microfluidic micro-valves be structurally re-engineered to manage fluid positioning, bubble elimination, and waste extraction autonomously?
Sensors: What are the design considerations for integrating multi-modal sensing - specifically miniaturized microscopy and spectroscopy - into a robotic workflow to allow the automated system to dynamically adjust?
Space Self Driving Labs (SSDLs): Can we engineer a SSDLs that uses additive manufacturing or modular structural switching to print or assemble bespoke microfluidic geometries in orbit depending on the experiment's real-time physical feedback?