By BlueShift and AFP | 2026-07-23

Seeds from South Africa's world-famous rooibos tea are headed to the International Space Station (ISS) to see how they respond to space conditions, in the first such experiment for Africa, organizers announced July 16.

Uniquely South African, the rooibos plant is used to make a sweetish, caffeine-free infusion that is high in antioxidants and sold across the world.

The mission is facilitated by MaxIQ Space, an educational program that provides hands-on Space STEM experiences for students.

The seeds will be launched to the ISS in October, and will be kept in a nanolab for at least six weeks with more than a dozen student experiments as part of a MaxIQ Space program to encourage STEM subject learning.

They are expected back by January, per the South African Rooibos Council (SARC). When they return, the seeds will be planted alongside control seeds, in a comparative study examining germination, growth, resilience and yield.

The experiment will be carried out by students from seven schools in South Africa's southeastern Cederberg region, where rooibos is cultivated.

Working with local rooibos farms, students will collect and analyze data as part of a structured scientific investigation, with a parallel experiment at Parklands College providing comparative data.

"The seeds will be the first indigenous South African species, and the first seeds on the African continent, to go to space," said SARC director Dawie de Villiers.

"The purpose is to expose the seeds to microgravity and space radiation to find out how these seeds adapt to space conditions and if there is a future for sustainable food production beyond Earth," de Villiers said.

Growing body of research

The rooibos experiment will contribute to a growing body of global research into how plants respond to space conditions.

A similar experiment conducted aboard the ISS last year involved the germination of moong (Green gram) and methi (Fenugreek) seeds, which are staples of Indian cuisine that have well-documented health benefits.

That experiment, conducted by Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, aimed to help scientists understand plant growth in space in order to potentially feed future astronauts.

Dry seeds were sent into space, where they were watered, tended, sprouted and then frozen and returned to Earth for study.

They will be cultivated on Earth over several generations to see how the space environment may have affected their genetics and nutritional value.

According to the US space agency, studying how plants adapt to harsh conditions in space can lead to agricultural innovations that support deep space exploration and improve farming in austere environments on Earth.

Experiments aboard the ISS have demonstrated that crops such as lettuce can grow in microgravity, while studies on peas and soybeans have provided insight into how plants respond to altered gravity and environmental stressors.

These findings are contributing to advances in both future space-based food systems and agricultural resilience on Earth, per the SARC.

Plant cultivation in space

NASA and international partners have conducted numerous studies aboard the ISS to understand plant cultivation in space, focusing on microgravity plant genetics, food safety, water delivery systems, and crop yield.

A series of experiments from the University of Florida explored how gravity affects the way a plant's roots orient themselves downward, while a collaboration with Budweiser examined how barley seeds are affected by life in space.

"Rooibos has long been part of South Africa’s agricultural heritage," de Villiers said. "This project places it within a broader scientific context, where plant biology, space research and education intersect."

"It also reflects the importance of investing in scientific literacy and skills development for the next generation of researchers and innovators."

Rooibos, which means "red bush" in Afrikaans, was in 2021 added to a European Union list of protected products, meaning only leaves cultivated in South Africa's southeastern Cederberg region can be sold as "rooibos" in EU countries.

The SARC says on average 22,000 tons of rooibos are produced in South Africa a year, depending on rainfall and temperature.

About half is consumed domestically with the remainder exported to more than 50 countries, mainly Japan, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Britain.