Mon Jan 06 08:51:25 UTC 2025: ## ISRO’s Space Cowpeas Unfurl First Leaves
**Bengaluru, January 6, 2025** – The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced a significant milestone in its space agriculture experiment. Cowpea seeds launched into orbit on December 30, 2024, aboard the PSLV-C60 SpaDeX mission, have successfully sprouted their first leaves.
The seeds were part of the Compact Research Module for Orbital Plant Studies (CROPS) payload, a project designed to test the feasibility of growing plants in extraterrestrial environments. ISRO confirmed the development via a social media post, showcasing images of the newly emerged leaves.
The CROPS payload, developed by the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), operates as a fully automated system. This five-to-seven-day experiment aims to monitor seed germination and plant growth up to the two-leaf stage in microgravity conditions. Eight cowpea seeds are being cultivated within a closed, thermally controlled environment. This is a crucial step toward developing ISRO’s capability to sustain flora in space, opening possibilities for future long-duration space missions.
First Piper 