Photo: Space Tango

Space Tango received a $5 million award from NASA to support biological data collection for the planned crewed test flight to lunar orbit in the Artemis II mission. Space Tango builds systems that support health and technology manufacturing in space. 

Space Tango’s work on Artemis II will support the NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) over 26 investigations with capabilities including brightfield and fluorescence microscopy, fluidics management in transit or orbit, and live science return for further analysis.

The Artemis II mission is set for no earlier than September 2025 and will feature a crew of four astronauts in the Orion spacecraft performing a lunar fly-by to demonstrate capabilities for deep space missions. 

“The Artemis II mission is a significant milestone in human space exploration, and we are honored to be NASA’s partner,” said S. Sita Sonty, Space Tango CEO. “With our expertise in integrating hardware, software, and science, Space Tango is poised to enable scientific data collection at a greater scale.”

Space Tango currently works with NASA to support R&D and manufacturing on the International Space Station. The company was also recently awarded a NASA small business innovation research (SBIR) Ignite contract in December 2023 to support the development of the TangoBox robotic lab hood. TangoBox is being designed as an automated platform to execute cell culture, tissue culture, chemistry, fiber optics, and materials manufacturing onboard the ISS and future commercial space stations.