Unknown Species of Bacteria Discovered in China’s Space Station

Image caption: Rendering of Tiangong Space Station in August 2021, with Tianhe core module in the middle, Shenzhou-12 crewed spacecraft on the left, and Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft on the right. Image credit: Shujianyang via Wikimedia. CC BY-SA 4.0 (no modifications). Article by Mike McRae. Science Alert – May 19, 2025. Research article: Niallia tiangongensis sp. nov., isolated from the China Space Station.

Swabs from China’s Tiangong space station reveal traces of a bacterium unseen on Earth, with characteristics that may help it function under stressful environmental conditions hundreds of kilometers above the planet’s surface. Naming their discovery after the station, researchers from the Shenzhou Space Biotechnology Group and the Beijing Institute of Spacecraft System Engineering say the study of Niallia tiangongensis and similar species could be “essential” in protecting astronaut health and spacecraft functionality over long missions. […]

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