The American company Auxilium Biotechnologies has successfully 3D-printed kidney and liver tissue in space for the first time. The experiment was conducted aboard the International Space Station (ISS) using its AMP-1 orbital bioprinter. The samples returned to Earth on June 17, splashing down off the coast of California after traveling as part of NASA’s SpaceX CRS-34 mission. The goal: to advance the manufacturing of biomedical products outside our planet. Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
As you may know, bioprinting relies on bio-inks, which are mixtures of living cells and biomaterials, deposited layer by layer to build a structure resembling human tissue. Bringing this technique into space opens the door to manufacturing tissues and biological models directly in orbit, a prospect drawing growing interest in biomedical research.
Tissue sample (left) and a nerve repair implant, both bioprinted aboard the International Space Station (ISS). (Credit: Auxilium Biotechnologies)
Auxilium is targeting a very specific application: organoids, those miniature three-dimensional models that replicate how a human organ functions and are used to study diseases, test drugs, or predict a treatment’s response. The whole point of this technology lies in the search for alternatives to animal testing. Today, organoids are made on Earth and then sent into space; being able to produce them directly in orbit through bioprinting would therefore let researchers have them on demand, without depending on launch schedules or Earth-based supply chains.
During the mission, the AMP-1 produced kidney and liver tissue, cartilage, and 28 implants intended for nerve repair. The mission demonstrated that a single autonomous manufacturing platform could produce both living tissues and implantable medical devices during the same flight. The tissues were printed in collaboration with the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM), which supplied the cells and models. “The successful bioprinting of living liver and kidney tissue aboard the International Space Station marks a major advance for regenerative medicine,” said Anthony Atala, professor of medicine and director of WFIRM.
Auxilium’s In-Space Biomanufacturing platform. (Credit: Auxilium Biotechnologies)
This milestone comes amid a broader orbital transition. The ISS is approaching decommissioning, and new commercial stations are preparing to take over. Auxilium is already collaborating with companies such as Vast and Starlab, which are developing next-generation platforms, and has not ruled out taking its technology as far as the Moon and future long-duration missions. “These results build on our previous demonstration of large-scale manufacturing of medical devices in space and represent a further step toward establishing concrete production capabilities for biomedical products beyond Earth,” said Jacob Koffler, CEO of Auxilium.
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*Cover Photo: SpaceX’s Dragon capsule separates from the ISS on June 16, 2026, carrying mission experiments, including Auxilium’s bioprinted tissues, back to Earth. (Credit: NASA/Jessica Meir)