BIXO, a student-led CubeSat mission for education and astrobiology research

BIXO, Bacteriological Intercommunication eXperiment in Orbit is a CubeSat mission being developed by a team of university students of various engineering disciplines, with the consultancy of several professors. The objective of this mission is twofold: first, to provide an active environment for students to acquire first-hand experience in the development and management of a challenging engineering project, and secondly, to study how microorganisms behave in the space environment, by means of an astrobiology experiment flying aboard the CubeSat (1). This poster focuses on the status of the project, concerning the CONOPS, mission and system requirements, as well as the biological payload design. 

The goal of the CubeSat payload is to conduct astrobiology scientific experiments with the objective to monitor bacterial communication under spaceflight conditions. Quorum Sensing (QS) is a fundamental cell-to-cell communication process that allows bacteria to sense their population density and control gene expression accordingly (2). QS is involved in bacterial physiology and virulence. In particular, pathogenic traits such as biofilm formation, the biosynthesis of antimicrobials, horizontal gene transfer, and adaptive immunity heavily rely on this form of bacterial communication (3)(4). Remarkably, it is still unknown whether bacteria can engage in active QS under spaceflight conditions.

The expected outcome of this project is to obtain a better understanding of the Quorum Sensing process in the space environment. Additionally, the infrastructure and organization of the student lab will be demonstrated, allowing future student-led space missions to be developed, and establishing a sustainable learning environment for students and young engineers.