ICE Cubes
ICE Cubes is a commercial microgravity research service operated by Space Applications Services NV/SA, providing end-to-end access to the International Space Station for biotech, pharma, agrifoodtech, materials science, and academic customers through its proprietary ICE Cubes Facility in ESA's Columbus module.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1987
- HeadquartersSint-stevens-woluwe, Belgium
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
ICE Cubes firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- ICE Cubes
- Legal name
- Space Applications Services NV/SA
- Website
- https://icecubesservice.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1987
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- ICE Cubes is a commercial microgravity research service operated by Space Applications Services NV/SA, providing end-to-end access to the International Space Station for biotech, pharma, agrifoodtech, materials science, and academic customers through its proprietary ICE Cubes Facility in ESA's Columbus module.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where ICE Cubes is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Sint-stevens-woluwe
- HQ country
- Belgium
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices3 records
Markets served
ICE Cubes business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Space Research Services: End-to-end service providing fast-track access to microgravity and space environment for research and technology development. Services include payload design, integration, launch, operations, and data retrieval.
- Kirara Protein Crystallization Service: Specialized crystallization service operated through partnership with JAMSS, providing high-quality crystal growth for pharmaceutical and research customers with X-ray diffraction analysis options.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels7 records
ICE Cubes product offering
Product offeringCore offering
ICE Cubes provides an end-to-end commercial service for fast-track, easy, and reliable access to microgravity research and technology demonstration on the International Space Station. The service covers payload design, integration, launch, on-orbit operations, and data retrieval through a proprietary modular ICE Cubes Facility housed in the ESA Columbus module. Customers from biotech, pharma, agrifoodtech, materials science, and academia book dedicated experiments or shared seats on missions such as the Kirara protein crystallization series.
Product overview
ICE Cubes is a commercial space research service operated by Space Applications Services that provides end-to-end access to microgravity and the space environment on the ISS. The core ICE Cubes Service and ICE Cubes Facility serve as the foundational platform, with complementary add-on modules including the in-house developed AI-Box (NVIDIA Jetson Xavier NX-based AI/ML computing with onboard sensors), Media Set (GoPro-based real-time communication system), Science Cube (fast-track experiment platform), and the Kirara protein crystallization service (developed by JAMSS). The portfolio also encompasses research initiatives including the PULSE bioprinting project, Maleth microbiome program, AstroCardia heart-on-chip project, and M4PM personalized medicine platform. The service maintains >35 years Space Applications Services heritage, ~8 years continuous ISS operations, and has delivered >40 missions.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- ICE Cubes Service End-to-end commercial service providing fast-track, easy, and reliable access to microgravity and the space environment for research and technology development on the ISS, covering payload design, integration, launch, operations and data retrieval for enterprise and academic customers.
- ICE Cubes Facility Modular on-orbit facility hosted inside the ESA Columbus module on the ISS that accommodates experiment cubes and provides power, data transfer, thermal control, and real-time communication to payloads with 800ms command response time.
- AI-Box In-house developed AI/ML computing asset permanently hosted in the ICE Cubes Facility, based on NVIDIA Jetson Xavier NX (21 TOPs), with built-in sensors (humidity, pressure, temperature, acceleration, rotation, magnetic field, CO2, particulate matter) and Advacam MiniPIX TPX3 radiation camera for onboard AI applications.
- Media Set In-house developed communication asset built around a GoPro camera, providing real-time video interaction capability between ISS crew and ground for educational sessions, media interviews, outreach events and private conversations via the ICE Cubes Media Center in Belgium.
- Science Cube In-house developed experiment platform designed for fast-track integration, reuse and quick turnaround, used as the standard housing for payloads hosted in the ICE Cubes Facility.
- Kirara Protein Crystallization Service High-quality protein crystallization service developed by JAMSS and hosted in the ICE Cubes Facility; uses microgravity to produce larger, better-structured crystals with less contamination, supporting drug discovery customers with X-ray diffraction analysis options.
- SpacePharma SPIC System Automated microfluidic Lab-on-a-Chip device developed by SpacePharma that integrates laboratory techniques to grow cells in space, featuring pumps, valves, waste reservoirs and automatic growth medium replacement.
Quantifiable outcome
- 800ms command response time to/from space enabling real-time experiment control
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use ICE Cubes
Customer profileNamed customers20 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
ICE Cubes technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability7 records
Feature5 records
ICE Cubes partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
13 partnerships are on record, tiered core, minor and major.
- ESA (European Space Agency)coreICE Cubes operates under a unique partnership with ESA, leveraging heritage of >35 years. The service provides access to the ISS Columbus module where the ICE Cubes Facility is installed. ESA provides institutional support and access to space infrastructure for commercial microgravity research.
- JAMSS (Japan Manned Space Systems Corporation)coreJAMSS developed and operates the Kirara protein crystallization service, a small incubator unit hosted within the ICE Cubes Facility on ISS. This partnership enables high-quality protein crystal growth for drug discovery, with 6 successful missions completed.
- MetaVisionariesminorCollaboration on 'Art From ISS' project streaming digital art from the International Space Station through the Maleth III Cube.
- SpaceomixminorPartner in Maleth III mission, contributing to international collaboration for human skin microbiome research.
- SpacePharmacoreDeveloped the SPIC (SpacePharma's ICE Cubes) system integrating and automating laboratory techniques to grow cells in microfluidic Lab-on-a-Chip devices for microgravity research.
- SCK CENmajorPart of AstroCardia consortium, contributing iPSC-derived cardiomyocyte organoids for heart-on-chip development and cardiac aging research.
- Bio InxmajorPart of AstroCardia consortium, responsible for bio ink generation for 3D bioprinting of cardiac constructs on Earth.
- QbD GroupmajorPart of AstroCardia consortium, supporting process development by defining critical parameters and investigating future self-steering protocols.
- AntleronmajorPart of AstroCardia consortium, developing lab-on-chips where 3D bioprinted organoids will be cultured in space.
- OrganoTherapeutics SARLmajorPilot customer for M4PM Phase 2, studying midbrain organoids for Parkinson's disease research with demo mission planned for 2026.
- Aleph FarmsminorCellular agriculture company researching cultivated meat production using cow cells in microgravity during RAKIA mission.
- AmorphicalminorResearching Amorphous Calcium Carbonate for improved bone and muscle cell growth during space travel.
- CADW TherapeuticsminorStudying stress and DNA damage response during spaceflight through beta-arrestin1 signaling pathway research.
Scale indicators11 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
ICE Cubes competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Voyager Space (formerly NanoRacks): Major US commercial space services company with deep ISS heritage (NanoRacks legacy) and broader LEO infrastructure ambitions including commercial station development. Competes broadly with ICE Cubes in commercial ISS access and is a potential future competitor in commercial LEO destinations.
- Sierra Space: US company developing the Dream Chaser spaceplane and commercial LEO destinations (Orbital Reef). Potential future competitor as an alternative platform for microgravity research customers post-ISS.
- Axiom Space: US company operating private astronaut missions to the ISS and building a commercial space station. Already a customer relationship (Ax-1, Ax-3, Ax-4 missions hosted ICE Cubes payloads) and a structural competitor as a future LEO destination provider.
Direct peers
- Space Tango: US-based company providing ISS-based research facilities (TangoLab) for biotech, pharma, and technology development. Operates a parallel commercial payload model targeting similar customer verticals as ICE Cubes.
- BioServe Space Technologies: University of Colorado-affiliated non-profit operating commercial life science research hardware on the ISS. Provides comparable microgravity research services, particularly in biological and medical investigations.
- yuri GmbH (ySpace): German company operating commercial microgravity research services on the ISS with its own incubator hardware. Directly competes with ICE Cubes for biotech, pharma, and academic payload customers seeking turnkey access to space-based experiments.
- Rhodium Scientific: US-based company providing end-to-end microgravity science services on the ISS for biotech, pharma, and academic customers. Closely comparable service model and customer profile to ICE Cubes.
- SpacePharma: Israeli-Swiss company providing microgravity research services on the ISS using microfluidic lab-on-chip systems. SpacePharma is both a competitor (parallel access model) and an integration partner whose SPIC system runs inside ICE Cubes' facility.
- Alpha Space Test and Research Alliance: US company operating the MISSE facility outside the ISS for materials science and technology exposure testing. Comparable commercial-access-to-ISS model, though focused on external exposure rather than internal microgravity payloads.
Others
- Space Applications Services: Belgian parent company of ICE Cubes Service with 35+ years of space applications heritage. Not a peer in the competitive sense but the strategic operating parent whose broader capabilities (mission control, robotics, exploration) underpin ICE Cubes' offering.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
ICE Cubes social profiles
Digital presenceICE Cubes financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
ICE Cubes leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
ICE Cubes funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
ICE Cubes M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about ICE Cubes
What does ICE Cubes do?
ICE Cubes provides an end-to-end commercial service for fast-track, easy, and reliable access to microgravity research and technology demonstration on the International Space Station. The service covers payload design, integration, launch, on-orbit operations, and data retrieval through a proprietary modular ICE Cubes Facility housed in the ESA Columbus module. Customers from biotech, pharma, agrifoodtech, materials science, and academia book dedicated experiments or shared seats on missions such as the Kirara protein crystallization series.
Is ICE Cubes a public or private company?
ICE Cubes is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was ICE Cubes founded?
ICE Cubes was founded in 1987. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is ICE Cubes based?
ICE Cubes is headquartered in Sint-stevens-woluwe, Belgium, in the Europe region.
How does ICE Cubes make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Space Research Services are the primary driver. The others are kirara Protein Crystallization Service.
Who are ICE Cubes's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Voyager Space (formerly NanoRacks), Sierra Space and Axiom Space. Direct peers are Space Tango, BioServe Space Technologies, yuri GmbH (ySpace), Rhodium Scientific, SpacePharma and Alpha Space Test and Research Alliance. Space Applications Services is listed as an others.
Does ICE Cubes have an API?
No public API is recorded for ICE Cubes.