CAPE TOWN – More than 17 000 rooibos seeds have begun their trip to the United States ahead of a ground-breaking space mission that will see South Africa’s indigenous tea plant exposed to the extreme conditions beyond Earth.
The United States Consul General in Cape Town, Allison Areias, hosted a farewell event for the seeds and other South African science experiments that will travel to the International Space Station aboard the same spacecraft.
The 17 346 rooibos seeds, weighing just 74.2 grams, will head to Voyager Technologies in Texas where scientists will prepare them for spaceflight. Researchers have divided the seeds into three batches to compare how different treatments affect their survival: untreated seeds, scarified seeds, and scarified seeds treated with a protective agricultural coating.
A tiny laboratory heading to orbit
The seeds will travel inside a specialised Nanolab, a compact research module that allows scientists to conduct experiments in space without needing large, custom-built equipment. This plug-and-play laboratory will expose the rooibos seeds to microgravity and space radiation before they return to Earth for testing.
The Rooibos Nanolab will fly to the International Space Station aboard the Cygnus NG-25 commercial resupply spacecraft. The launch is expected to take place between December 2026 and January 2027, after NASA rescheduled the original October flight due to changes in crew and resupply arrangements.
“This is an exciting milestone for rooibos and for South Africans who have followed this project from the beginning,” says Dawie de Villiers, Director of the South African Rooibos Council. “The scientific objective is to explore what will happen to the rooibos seeds when they are exposed to conditions beyond Earth, opening up new opportunities to learn more about this uniquely South African plant.”
Students will track the space seeds
The seeds will spend four to six weeks in space before returning to Earth. Once back, researchers will work with schools in the Cederberg region, where rooibos grows naturally, and Parklands College to plant the space-exposed seeds alongside control seeds that remained on Earth.
Over 18 months, students and researchers will monitor and measure differences in how the seeds grow. They will track germination rates, growth patterns and plant development as the rooibos plants mature.
The project puts students at the heart of real scientific research while building practical skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The wider Rooibos in Space initiative has included school engagement, STEM education and a national Mission Patch competition that challenged young people aged 12 to 18 to design a unique patch for the mission.
Combining tradition with cutting-edge science
For Cyril Ngqwala, rooibos seed technician, preparing the experiment has offered a rare chance to merge traditional rooibos seed knowledge with space science.
“Working with the seeds from preparation through to assembling the Nanolab has been an incredible experience,” says Ngqwala. “We have prepared the seeds in different conditions so that, when they return, we can compare their performance with seeds that have remained on Earth. It’s exciting to think that something as uniquely South African as rooibos is now part of a space experiment.”
The South African Rooibos Council conceived the Rooibos in Space initiative and developed it as a collaborative project with MaxIQ Space.
The mission will mark the first time a South African indigenous plant seed has travelled to space for this type of research. It creates a unique opportunity to explore how rooibos, a plant uniquely adapted to the Cederberg region, responds to the extreme conditions of space.
The Rooibos Council will share updates about the project on its website and social media channels.
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