Out of This World Discoveries: Space Station Research in 2025
As Earth completed its orbit around the Sun through the end of 2025, the International Space Station circled our planet more than 5,800 times. Serving as humanity’s unique laboratory in space, the station has hosted thousands of experiments and technological demonstrations, advancing science in ways that cannot be replicated on Earth.
In 2025 alone, more than 750 experiments supported exploration missions, improved life on Earth, and opened commercial opportunities in low Earth orbit. The space station continues to drive innovation by enabling human exploration of the Moon and Mars, transforming medical research, deepening our understanding of the universe, and fostering a growing commercial economy.
Read some of the orbiting lab’s innovative research achievements in 2025.
On November 2, 2025, humanity reached a milestone of cosmic proportions: 25 years of continuous human presence aboard the International Space Station. Since the first crew arrived on November 2, 2000, NASA and its partners around the world have conducted more than 4,000 research and technology demonstrations. More than 290 people from 26 countries visited the space station, where the continued human presence enables research that exceeds the capabilities of satellites and autonomous platforms. The space station’s unique microgravity environment, coupled with crew operations, continues to enable discoveries and push the boundaries of humanity’s curiosity and innovation.
Research aboard the International Space Station contributed to the development of a newly FDA-approved injectable drug used to treat several types of early-stage cancers. The research provided first insights into the structure and size of particles needed for drug development through protein crystal growth experiments. This new delivery method promises to reduce costs and significantly reduce treatment time for patients and healthcare providers, while maintaining drug effectiveness. Microgravity research can produce higher quality, medically relevant crystals than terrestrial laboratories, enabling these types of medical advancements. These developments show how space station research can drive innovation, improve lives and foster commercial opportunities.
Eight medical implants designed to promote nerve regeneration have been successfully 3D printed aboard the International Space Station for preclinical testing on Earth. In the event of a nerve injury, these types of implants are designed to improve blood flow and allow targeted drug delivery. Microgravity printing can prevent particle settling, resulting in more uniform and stable structures. Manufacturing in space helps advance medical treatments and other technologies while allowing astronauts to print devices and tools on demand during future missions.
Learn more about the InSPA-Auxilium bioprinter.
A solar coronagraph aboard the International Space Station has captured its first unique images detailing the Sun’s outer atmosphere while measuring temperature and solar wind speed. The instrument blocks the Sun’s bright light to reveal its weak outer atmosphere, or corona, where the solar wind originates. Previous experiments have focused on the density of the corona, but this new device allows us to study what heats and accelerates the solar wind, providing a more complete picture of how energy moves through the Sun’s atmosphere. These observations help researchers understand how solar activity affects Earth and space technologies, such as satellites, communications networks and power systems.
Learn more about CODEX.
NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore collected microbiological samples during a spacewalk outside the International Space Station. Samples were taken near the life support system vents to see if the orbital complex was releasing microorganisms. This experiment helps researchers examine if and how these microorganisms survive and reproduce in a harsh space environment, as well as how they may behave on destinations such as the Moon and Mars. After returning to Earth, the samples underwent DNA extraction and sequencing. Another series of collections is planned for future spacewalks. The data could help determine whether changes are needed on crewed spacecraft and spacesuits to reduce biocontamination during missions to explore destinations where life may have existed now or in the past.
Learn more about external microorganisms on the ISS.
For the first time in the history of the International Space Station, all eight of the orbiting laboratory’s docking ports were occupied at the same time. Three crew spacecraft and five cargo resupply craft were attached to the station, including JAXA’s new HTV-X1 cargo vehicle and Northrup Grumman’s new Cygnus XL. The eight spacecraft carried astronauts, cargo and scientific experiments from around the world, which will be conducted in a unique microgravity environment. This milestone highlights the evolution of the space station, inviting commercial partners and international collaboration to continue expanding the orbiting laboratory’s research capabilities.
Three experiments that landed on the Moon during Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost-1 mission were made possible by previous research aboard the International Space Station. These studies help improve space weather monitoring, test computer recovery from radiation damage, and advance lunar navigation systems. The orbiting laboratory continues to lay the foundation for missions beyond low Earth orbit, furthering exploration deeper into space.
Learn more.
The space station continues to achieve extraordinary achievements that cannot be replicated on Earth. Its research capabilities provide a springboard for humanity’s future in terms of innovation and testing the limits of what is possible.
Here’s to 2026 – another year where we defy physics and push the boundaries of science and exploration.
