The Biomass Production System (BPS).

Orbital Technologies Corporation (ORBITEC)

Madison, WI

The BPS is an innovative plant growth chamber that provides the precise environmental control required to perform meaningful plant research in microgravity.

• The Biomass Production System (BPS) is a controlled environment plant growth facility developed by Orbital Technologies Corporation in cooperation with NASA under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program to meet or exceed science, biotechnology and commercial plant growth requirements in the Space Station era.
• The BPS is configured for Shuttle Middeck, SpaceHab Module and EXPRESS Rack aboard the International Space Station (ISS). This system is being prepared for science and verification experimentation on Utilization Flight-1 and is also available commercially.
• The baseline BPS unit contains four plant growth chambers each with a growing area of 260 square centimeters and a height of 15.2 centimeters. The BPS operates with 28VDC power and forced air cooling and consists of four major elements: the locker enclosure, the upper and lower avionics bays and the chamber access bay. NASA or commercial customers may lease or buy available units

• Both space and terrestrial applications exist for the Biomass Production System technologies. The environmental control technologies can apply to the Space Shuttle, Space Station, SpaceHab, plant and animal habitats, and other centrifuge facilities. Ground-based applications can extend into growth chambers, greenhouses, controlled environmental agricultural systems, humidity control in homes, offices, and other facilities; automated maintenance of large and small plantscapes and specialized potting and planting systems for homes, offices, hotels, and public buildings.
• Significant commercial markets exist for BPS technologies. Spinoffs will be commercialized where possible. PLANET Products Corporation, a sister company of ORBITEC, transitions valuable technologies from initial development stages into viable commercial markets via production and sales, equity or market partnerships, and technology or product licenses.

• The Biomass Production System was developed and tested as a precursor to the Plant Research Unit to fulfill a facilities capability within the Space Station Biological Research Program.
• The Photosynthesis Experiments and System Testing and Operations (PESTO) experiment was funded by NASA's Office of Life and Microgravity Sciences and Applications, Life Sciences Division, and will be the science payload during technology verification testing of the Biomass Production System (BPS). NASA’s contractor and principle investigator for PESTO is Dynamac Corp.
• The objective of the PESTO experiment is to determine the effect of the space environment, specifically microgravity on photosynthesis and metabolism of wheat.

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