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As space exploration becomes more economical and within reach, the narrative of human existence beyond Earth is merely commencing. The Aurelia Institute aims to ensure that the forthcoming advantages benefit all of humanity — whether beyond the stars or here on our planet.
Established by Ariel Ekblaw SM ’17, PhD ’20; Danielle DeLatte ’11; and former MIT research scientist Sana Sharma, this nonprofit entity acts as a laboratory for space technology and architecture, a hub for educational outreach, and a policy center devoted to encouraging greater involvement in the space sector.
Central to the Aurelia Institute’s purpose is a dedication to making space accessible to everyone. A significant aspect of this mission involves yearly microgravity flights that Ekblaw describes as being equal parts research endeavors, workforce development, and inspiration for the emerging generation of space aficionados.
“We’ve conducted that each year,” Ekblaw notes regarding the flights. “We now foster multiple cohorts of students that connect over time. It unites individuals from diverse backgrounds. We’ve had artists, designers, architects, ethicists, instructors, and more join us. In our research and development, we are focused on space infrastructure for the collective benefit. That’s why we are channeling our technological initiatives toward immediate, substantial infrastructure projects in low-Earth orbit that positively impact life on Earth.”
From these yearly flights to the Institute’s self-constructing space architecture technology known as TESSERAE, much of Aurelia’s endeavor is a continuation of projects Ekblaw initiated during her graduate studies at MIT.
“My life’s path transformed when I arrived at MIT,” shares Ekblaw, who continues to serve as a visiting researcher there. “I am deeply thankful for the education I received in the Media Lab and the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. MIT is what equipped me with the skills, technology, and community to launch Aurelia and make a significant impact in the space sector at scale.”
“MIT alters lives”
Ekblaw has consistently had a fervor for space. During her undergraduate studies at Yale University, she participated in a NASA microgravity flight as part of a research initiative. In her first year of the PhD program at MIT, she spearheaded the launch of the Space Exploration Initiative, a collaborative endeavor to stimulate innovation at the edges of space exploration. This ongoing initiative began as a research group but quickly generated enough funding for microgravity flights and, more recently, missions to the International Space Station and the moon.
“The Media Lab was enchanting during my years there,” Ekblaw reflects. “It held a sense of what we used to refer to as ‘anti-disciplinary freedom.’ You could secure funding to investigate uniquely different and stimulating ideas. Our mission was to make space accessible to all.”
In 2016, while enrolled in a class taught by Neri Oxman, then a professor in the Media Lab, Ekblaw conceived the idea for the TESSERAE Project, where tiles autonomously form spherical space structures.
“I was pondering the future of human flight, and that class was a pivotal moment for me,” Ekblaw shares. “I recognized that self-assembly is effective on Earth, particularly successful on a small scale like in biological systems, but typically challenges arise with gravity when dealing with larger objects. However, microgravity in space was an ideal scenario for self-assembly.”
That semester, Ekblaw also attended Professor Neil Gershenfeld’s class MAS.863 (How to Make (Almost) Anything), where she commenced building prototypes. Over the subsequent years of her doctoral studies, later iterations of the TESSERAE system were tested during microgravity flights organized by the Space Exploration Initiative, in a suborbital mission with the space company Blue Origin, and as part of a 30-day mission aboard the International Space Station.
“MIT transforms lives,” Ekblaw asserts. “It entirely revolutionized my existence by granting me access to genuine spaceflight experiences. The key data for my PhD came from an International Space Station mission.”
Upon completing her PhD in 2020, Ekblaw approached two researchers from the MIT community and the Space Exploration Initiative, Danielle DeLatte and Sana Sharma, to collaborate with her in furthering research projects, as well as engaging in space education and policy initiatives. This partnership evolved into Aurelia.
“I aimed to amplify the work I was undertaking with the Space Exploration Initiative, where we engage students, introduce them to zero-g flights, and then some advance to sub-orbital, eventually culminating in flights to the International Space Station,” Ekblaw explains. “What would it entail to extend that beyond MIT and offer those opportunities to students and mid-career professionals from diverse backgrounds?”
Annually, Aurelia organizes a microgravity flight, permitting around 25 individuals to conduct 10 to 15 experiments. To date, nearly 200 individuals have joined the flights associated with the Space Exploration Initiative and Aurelia, with over 70 percent of those participants actively pursuing endeavors in the space sector post-flight.
Aurelia also provides open-source courses on designing research initiatives for microgravity settings and contributes to various educational and community-building efforts across academia, industry, and the arts.
In addition to its educational initiatives, Aurelia has persisted in testing and enhancing the TESSERAE system. In 2022, TESSERAE was included in the inaugural private mission to the International Space Station, where astronauts conducted evaluations regarding the system’s autonomous self-assembly, disassembly, and stability. Aurelia is poised to return to the International Space Station in early 2026 for further evaluation as part of a recent NASA grant.
This trajectory led Aurelia to recently spin off the TESSERAE project into a distinct, for-profit entity. Ekblaw anticipates additional spinoffs from Aurelia in the upcoming years.
Designing for both space and Earth
The self-assembly research is merely one endeavor within Aurelia’s array of projects. Others concentrate on crafting human-scale pavilions and additional habitats, including a space garden and a sizable, 20-foot dome representing the interiors of future space architectures. This space habitat pavilion was recently exhibited as part of a six-month display at the Seattle Museum of Flight.
“The architectural initiatives are asking, ‘How are we going to equip these systems and genuinely make the habitats part of a rewarding life?’” Ekblaw clarifies.
In all its projects, the Aurelia team views space as a testing ground to bring innovative technologies and concepts back to our own planet.
“When you create something to endure the challenges of space, you often stumble upon exceptionally resilient technologies for Earth,” she observes.
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