The main focus of the visit was a review of one of the project’s key milestones: the Preliminary Design Review (PDR). Its successful completion marks another major step forward for CONREX on its journey from a scientific concept to a real experiment in orbit.
The team also presented the latest engineering model of the CONREX experimental device. The project is thus taking on a more concrete form and moving another step closer to the flight model, which will have to meet the stringent requirements for operation aboard the International Space Station.
CONREX aims to become the world’s first nanorobotics experiment in orbit. Its objective is to investigate the magnetic control of nanorobots under microgravity conditions and explore their potential for removing persistent bacterial biofilms. The results could be significant not only for future long-duration space missions, but also for medicine, industry and environmental protection on Earth.
If the next stages of preparation proceed according to plan, CONREX will head to the ISS in the second half of 2027. The experiment will be part of Czech astronaut Aleš Svoboda’s mission, being prepared within the national Czech Journey to Space programme. The crew will travel to the ISS aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, launched by a Falcon 9 rocket.
During the visit, representatives of ESA and TRL Space, a company closely collaborating with FEI on the development of the experiment, also toured the Faculty’s research infrastructure. They visited the Smart Factory at CPIT TL3, the laboratories of the international Advanced Nanorobots and Multiscale Robotics Lab research team led by Professor Martin Pumera, the electron microscopy facilities, as well as the new electromagnetic compatibility laboratory equipped with an EMC chamber.
The visit also provided an opportunity to discuss further projects, new opportunities and possibilities for future collaboration. CONREX represents not only a single experiment heading to the ISS, but also an opportunity to further develop research and technologies for space applications and to strengthen cooperation with Czech and international partners.