In 2023, NASA’s orbiting 3D printer made a human knee meniscus, one of the first human tissue structures successfully bioprinted in space

A machine roughly the size of standard lab equipment has given scientists an unusual glimpse of what future medicine could look like far from Earth. In September 2023, researchers successfully produced a human knee meniscus aboard the International Space Station (ISS), using living cells and a specialised 3D bioprinter operating in microgravity. The achievement marked a step toward making replacement tissues in space instead of transporting every medical supply from Earth.According to NASA, the BioFabrication Facility (BFF) was developed by Redwire Space and operated aboard the International Space Station as part of NASA and ISS National Laboratory-supported research. During its first trip to space in 2019, the BFF produced a partial human knee meniscus.