“Kasetsart University shines with groundbreaking research sent to NASA.”

On September 15, 2025, at 5:02 AM Thailand time, the payload of the Thailand Liquid Crystals in Space (TLC) project was loaded into Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft, flight NG-23, under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Service (CRS) mission. The Cygnus was launched aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, heading to the International Space Station (ISS), where the experiment will be conducted over a three-month period, totaling 144 hours of research in orbit.

The liquid crystal experiment in space aims to advance liquid crystal display (LCD) technology beyond its current capabilities. LCDs, widely used in mobile phone screens, represent a major global industry valued at around USD 150 billion annually, with projections reaching USD 1.4 trillion by 2029.

Associate Professor Dr. Natthaphon Chatraem explained that liquid crystals are fluids that respond to electrical currents, enabling them to control light. In LCDs, when electric current is applied, the molecules shift, allowing light to be directed or dimmed as desired. This fundamental property is what makes LCD screens so common on Earth.

However, this research seeks to develop liquid crystals that can withstand the extreme conditions of space, enabling their use in communication displays aboard the ISS, astronaut helmet visors during extravehicular missions, as well as potential applications in future space tourism and orbital hotels.

The payload had to undergo a rigorous four-phase safety review process—Phase 0, Phase I, Phase II, and Phase III—at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, before being approved for launch. The TLC project received more than 500 million THB (approximately USD 14 million) in funding support from the U.S. ISS National Laboratory and NASA.

The Thailand Liquid Crystals in Space (TLC) project originated from a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed on June 24, 2021, between NASA—represented by Dr. Meredith M. McKay, Director of the Human Exploration and Operations Division—and Dr. Chongrak Wachrinrat, President of Kasetsart University. This historic agreement marked the first MOU between NASA and a Southeast Asian country for space experiments, enabling the research team from Kasetsart University and the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA), led by Associate Professor Dr. Natthaphon Chatraem of the Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Kasetsart University, to participate in liquid crystal research aboard the ISS.