On Friday, August 1, 2025, Nigeria’s egusi seed entered Space, capturing national and global attention.
Egusi seed, also known as melon seed, made its trip to space as part of a global research mission on adaptability.
The initiative was bred by Temidayo Oniosun, founder and managing director of Space in Africa, in collaboration with The Karman Project and Jaguar Space LLC.
This initiative marks the first time a Nigerian object and a West African agricultural product have entered orbit.
Here are 10 key facts to know about the mission;
1. Egusi seed entered space through a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as part of NASA’s Crew-11 mission. This represents a monumental achievement, as it is the first time any object from Nigeria has reached Earth’s orbit.
2. The egusi seeds were sourced from Oyo State, South West, Nigeria.
3. Dr. Temidayo Oniosun, founder of Space in Africa, spearheaded this mission in collaboration with The Karman Project and Jaguar Space LLC.
4. Oniosun explained that Egusi was selected for its deep cultural significance and nutritional value. He said the soup unites communities across Yoruba, Igbo, and Hausa cultures and is widely consumed in West Africa.
5. Oniosun also explained that the mission aims to study how egusi seeds respond to microgravity and cosmic radiation aboard the ISS.
6. The research is expected to explore the resilience and potential of egusi seeds for use in sustainable food systems during long-duration space missions, with implications for extraterrestrial agriculture.
7. Nigeria’s egusi seeds are joined by culturally significant crops from Egypt (cotton), Armenia (pomegranate), and Pakistan (wheat) in the “Emerging Space Nations: Space for Agriculture and Agriculture for Space” project. This multinational initiative seeks to advance global food security and seed resilience.
8. The SpaceX Falcon 9 launched on August 1, 2025, at 4:43 PM Nigerian time (11:43 AM EDT) from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
9. The seeds will remain on the ISS for several days, returning to Earth on August 10, 2025, for further analysis at the University of Florida and in Brazil.
10. Nigeria’s egusi seed space mission is just the beginning. Space in Africa and Jaguar Space have signed agreements for future launches, with plans for a public campaign to select the next African crop to send to space.
