PRESS RELEASE: Orbital Paradigm and Green Moon Project

The agreement facilitating this collaboration was signed on Friday, 13th December 2024, at Orbital Paradigm's facilities in Madrid, cementing a partnership that highlights the innovative capacity of Spanish space science and engineering.

The Green Moon Project, a scientific initiative focused on space agriculture and the development of self-sustaining ecosystems for future lunar missions, has announced its partnership with the Spanish startup Orbital Paradigm to conduct its first Earth-orbit mission in 2026 and send its cultivation experiment into space that same year.

The project will be carried aboard a pressurised capsule developed by Orbital Paradigm, specifically designed for microgravity experimentation and payload recovery post-mission. Over several days in orbit, the Green Moon Project will investigate plant growth under microgravity conditions using lunar regolith simulant produced from Lanzarote soil, integrating plant biology and planetary geology expertise within a real space environment. This mission will serve as a scientific demonstrator, generating data that will further advance the Green Moon Project's research into space agriculture.

This mission marks a crucial milestone for the Green Moon Project, as it will provide direct experimental data to analyse how plants interact with the real microgravity space environment. Additionally, the advanced modular design of Orbital Paradigm's capsule will allow for real-time monitoring of experiments during the flight, maximising the collection of high-value scientific data.

“This mission will mark a turning point for our project. As an intermediate step before seeing the Green Moon Project experiment on the Moon, this is a significant milestone made possible by New Space initiatives and the ongoing democratisation of Space,” emphasised the Green Moon Project team.

Orbital Paradigm echoed this sentiment, highlighting the importance of their technology and the partnership in advancing space experimentation and fostering breakthroughs that will help realise sustainable human presence beyond Earth.

The launch of this mission, scheduled for 2026, represents a collaborative effort to bring humanity one step closer to sustainable lunar presence, showcasing the pioneering partnership between the scientific Green Moon Project and the innovative Orbital Paradigm startup.