Kennedy Space Centre (KSC), Cape Canaveral, Florida 13th February 2026.
On Friday, 13, at 5:15 a.m. EST, Space X SpaceX Crew-12 mission has been successfully lunched uploading on the International Space Station APHRODITE experiment.
APHRODITE (Autonomous PHotosensing Reusable Onboard Device for Immunological Tests Execution) is a compact biosensor, based on lab-on-chip technology, designed to monitor astronaut health in real-time by analysing salivary biomarkers, specifically cortisol and DHEA-S, to detect stress and immune system changes. The scientific team was led by the University of Bologna with the School of Aerospace Engineering (SIA) of Sapienza University of Rome and Kayser Italia S.r.l. as industrial partner. The Italian Space Agency funded the project through the public call “Ricerche e dimostrazioni tecnologiche sulla Stazione Spaziale Internazionale – VUS3: ISS4EXPLORATION”.
APHRODITE is a technological demonstrator for devices able to perform rapid, non-invasive, in-orbit diagnostics without returning samples to Earth, crucial for future long-duration missions. The lab-on-chip technology, developed by SIA, is supported by a fluidic system developed by Kayser Italia to allow the execution of the scientific analysis protocol (defined by UniBO). Kayser Italia also had the role of integrating and testing the full device.
Over next months five full cycles of analysis will be performed inserting in the APRHODITE main device the cartridges filled with reagents and on purpose prepared biological samples. The same cycles will be performed on ground by the University of Bologna team in order to compare the obtained results.