British Space Startup Launches Longevity Lab Into Orbit

Space is becoming the next frontier in longevity research.

A British startup just launched self-run chemical experiments into orbit, in the hopes zero-gravity data might shine a light on a group of disease-causing proteins too difficult to study on Earth. But first they need to check their autonomous laboratory will work in space.

Mass Balance’s grapefruit-sized apparatus containing chemicals, sensors and control elements to keep the chemicals functioning launched on a SpaceX transporter on Tuesday morning. Contained in a 10 centimeter (4 inch) pod built by Austrian company Tumbleweed, the experiment will orbit the Earth for a couple of months, automatically measuring and beaming back down data about how the live cells grow, react, and function under weak gravity.

It’s the first test of a system that the company hopes could yield high-quality data unobtainable on Earth, where stronger gravity introduces effects like convection, through which heat flows, and sedimentation,...

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