The International Commercial Experiments service (ICE Cubes)has been installed on the European side of the International Space Station (ISS), Columbus, to perform commercial research and development activities in microgravity.

This is the first European facility for commercial research on the ISS and expects to receive its first experiments via the upcoming SpaceX Dragon supply vessel scheduled to be launched this month.

The ice-box-sized experiment cubes were installed by Nasa astronaut Ricky Arnold in the European Physiology Module of the Columbus laboratory.

ICE Cubes receives its power, temperature regulation and communications from Columbus.

Designed to be plug-and-play, ICE Cubes must be slotted into the facility to operate.

“This is the first European facility for commercial research on the ISS and expects to receive its first experiments via the upcoming SpaceX Dragon supply vessel.”

The facility is capable of accommodating experiments designed around 10cm cubes or combinations of this volume. It has room for 12 cubes on top and two rows of four cubes below.

Experiments of the facility can also float freely through Columbus and communicate wirelessly with the facility to send data to Earth.

Developed under a partnership between Space Applications Services and the European Space Agency (ESA), ICE Cubes will receive its first experiments from the International Space University.

The three experiments will investigate plant biology, bio-mine with microbes and conduct an experiment that will use a person’s heart rate to change a piece of kaleidoscopic artwork.

Representing ESA’s human and robotic exploration strategy to ensure access to the weightless research possibilities in low Earth orbit, the ICE Cubes will provide round-the-clock direct access to its experiments through a dedicated mission control centre at the Space Applications Services premises in Sint-Stevens-Woluwe, Belgium.

Clients can connect at any time to their experiment from their location to read data and even send commands directly.