South Africa is preparing to send seeds from its indigenous rooibos plant to the International Space Station in October, placing one of the country’s most recognisable agricultural products at the centre of a space science experiment.
The initiative, named Rooibos in Space, was developed by the South African Rooibos Council in partnership with South African space education company MaxIQ Space, with support from the South African National Space Agency.
The seeds will spend several weeks aboard the ISS in a nanolab, where they will be exposed to microgravity and space radiation before returning to South Africa.
Researchers will plant them alongside a control batch kept on Earth and compare their germination, growth, yield and resilience.
The project will involve learners from seven schools in the Cederberg region of the Western Cape, the centre of South Africa’s rooibos industry.
The learners will work with local rooibos farmers to collect and analyse the results, while Parklands College in Cape Town, where the initiative was launched, will conduct a parallel experiment.
Schools across South Africa will also be invited to design the official mission patch, with entries closing at the end of August.
South African Rooibos Council director Dawie de Villiers said the initiative would connect the country’s agricultural heritage with scientific research and education.
“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.”
MaxIQ Space founder Judi Sandrock said the experiment would give learners practical exposure to research, data collection and scientific analysis.
“It provides a structured opportunity to develop scientific thinking, data analysis skills and an understanding of how experimentation works in practice,” Sandrock said.
Beyond its cultural importance, rooibos is a growing South African export commodity.
South Africa exported about 10,930 tonnes of rooibos to more than 50 international markets in 2025, surpassing the 10,000-tonne mark for the first time.
The industry produces about 20,000 tonnes annually, with roughly half consumed locally and the rest exported, while supporting thousands of jobs across farming, processing, packaging and retail.
In addition, rooibos became the first African food to receive protected designation of origin status from the European Union.
The protection limits the use of the rooibos name to products linked to its recognised South African production region.
Sending the seeds into orbit therefore gives an established African export product visibility in a field usually associated with advanced engineering, satellites and human spaceflight.
