SpaceX Delivers Brain Organoids and Retina Tech to ISS in Latest Cargo Run

A SpaceX Dragon capsule docked at the International Space Station on October 15, delivering more than 6,300 pounds of research hardware and supplies for the Expedition 75 crew. The commercial resupply flight, CRS-35, carried several biological studies and technology demonstrations designed to operate in microgravity.

Medical research and retinal manufacturing

Key payloads include lab-grown 3D brain organoids and heart tissue models. The brain tissue investigation, called the miBrain model, was developed from patient-derived stem cells by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in collaboration with NASA and Space Tango. Dr. Joel W. Blanchard, project leader at Mount Sinai, said the research could establish the platform as a practical tool for assessing neurological risk before and during spaceflight. Over a planned five-week run, researchers will evaluate brain aging, radiation exposure, and genetic factors including APOE4.

Dragon also delivered hardware for the LambdaVision-1 study to evaluate the production of artificial retinas in orbit. According to NASA, microgravity allows for more uniform and stable thin-film layering, which could assist efforts to develop implants for conditions such as retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration. The shipment also contains materials to examine how new types of glass form in microgravity.

Power grid updates and return flight

Outside the pressurized cabin payloads, the capsule carried the final pair of International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays. The hardware will complete a multi-year project to upgrade the station's electrical power grid. Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk is slated to carry out two spacewalks later this fall to install the new arrays, though NASA has not set calendar dates.

The flight began with an early morning launch on October 13 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Sunlight striking the Falcon 9 exhaust plume at high altitude created a twilight jellyfish illumination visible along the eastern U.S. coastline.

Dragon is scheduled to stay docked at the Harmony module until mid-November 2026. The spacecraft will then pack finished scientific experiments and splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the California coast.