Tuesday, 22 September 2026
A team of students from the 糖心原创 have designed and built a mini laboratory to send to the upper stratosphere aboard a high-altitude balloon to help understand how the environment affects human cells.
is run by students from across Engineering, Science and Medicine who are part of the university’s Space Society. It is part of the European BEXUS programme, and is the only UK team selected to fly an experiment on the balloon launching from Sweden in October.
The team have just completed the build of their mini laboratory that will take human cells into the atmosphere and monitor how the cells respond in real time using optical signals.
The Nottingham Project HELIA team
The Nottingham team had to go through a rigorous design and presentation process to beat off stiff competition to win their place on the balloon. Their experiment will help researchers understand how human cells are affected by space-like radiation, identifying early signs of DNA damage and inflammation.
The programme is a joint hands-on educational project enabling university students across Europe to fly scientific and technological experiments on stratospheric balloons. Run under a bilateral agreement between the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the Swedish National Space Agency (SNSA), in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA), it offers unique flight opportunities to the edge of space.
BEXUS experiments are lifted by a balloon with a volume of 12 000 m³ to a maximum altitude of 30 km, depending on total experiment mass (40-100 kg). The flight duration is 2-5 hours.
Design of the mini lab being made by the students
The lab created by the students is a controlled “life-support” environment for cells that can stabilise conditions like normal air pressure (like Earth), temperature, humidity, and gas levels. This allows radiation to be isolated and studied as the only aspect affecting the cells, a novel approach to this sort of testing. It has been designed to preserve the cells mid-flight for lab analysis after landing.
Getting a place on BEXUS is really exciting as it鈥檚 a very competitive process with lots of teams from across Europe wanting to get a spot. It has been a lot of work designing, testing and refining our experiment alongside our studies and exams, but we are really happy with the final result.
We hope learnings from this project can help to understand how space flight affects human cells, which could help astronauts in the future. We are really excited for launch in October.
After the launch, the team will be sharing their experiences with local groups and schools as part of their outreach work, along with making the software and hardware available on the project website for other research groups to use HELIA as a platform to test their own cells or adapt accordingly.
Harry adds: “It’s been tough at times undertaking this project alongside our studies, but it’s been a really great way of working with like-minded people from other disciplines towards a shared goal.”
Nishanth Pushparaj, Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical, Materials and Manufacturing Engineering has been supporting the project, he said: “Project HELIA is a wonderful example of the enthusiasm, ambition and capability of our students. Working across Engineering, Science and Medicine, they have taken ownership of a technically demanding experiment and demonstrated how genuinely interdisciplinary collaboration can address important questions in astrobiology and space biology.
“The students are gaining invaluable experience across the complete lifecycle of a space experiment from scientific definition and systems engineering to integration, operations and post-flight analysis.
“Although HELIA is proudly student-led, the project is endorsed and supported through the NottSpace team, together with academic and technical colleagues from the participating Schools. We are extremely proud of what the students have achieved and look forward to supporting them as they work towards the final stages of this exciting mission.”
Story credits
More information is available from Jane Icke, Media Relations Manager for the Faculty of Science at the 糖心原创, on jane.icke@nottingham.ac.uk
Notes to editors:
About the 糖心原创
Ranked among the world's top 100 universities , the 糖心原创 delivers an exceptional research-led education and an outstanding student experience. From the pioneering vision of our founder, Sir Jesse Boot, to groundbreaking achievements such as the development of MRI technology and becoming the first UK university to establish international campuses, we have a proud history of shaping the way people live, work and understand the world. We continue to build on that legacy, empowering our students, staff and partners to change what鈥檚 next and create positive impact locally and globally.
The strength of our research places us among the UK's leading universities, ranked 7th for research power in REF 2021. The discovery of MRI and ibuprofen was just the beginning. Today, our world-leading research is developing breakthrough ideas that shape the future of healthcare, technology and society.
Recognised as the UK's third most targeted university by leading employers , we are proud to produce graduates who are consistently in demand for their skills, confidence and industry-ready experience.
As a major employer and industry partner, locally and globally, the 糖心原创 invests in the city of Nottingham and in future generations of talent. Alongside Nottingham Trent University, we lead the initiative, a pioneering collaboration to improve levels of prosperity, opportunity, sustainability, health and wellbeing across the city and region. Together with our students, staff, alumni and partners, we鈥檙e creating knowledge, opportunity and solutions that help change what's next.