ESA reported that astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) began supporting the final decommissioning of its Fluid Science Laboratory (FSL) on October 9, 2026. The facility’s final science activities had ended in July 2026. FSL is a microgravity research lab in the station’s Columbus laboratory.
What the Fluid Science Laboratory studied
FSL gave researchers a near-weightless environment to study fluids and other soft materials. Its work covered foams, emulsions—mixtures of liquids that do not normally blend—gels and granular materials, as well as boiling, combustion and heat transfer.
Among its investigations, GEOFLOW modeled processes similar to those deep inside Earth. RUBI studied combustion and heat transfer, FOAM-C examined liquid foams, and COMPGRAN investigated granular materials. PASTA explored how particles move and aggregate; the final research program, PASTA-3, focused on emulsions stabilized by particles.
FSL’s operating record
ESA reports that FSL spent more than 18 years in orbit, completing over 101,000 orbits of Earth. It supported 18 scientific experiments and accumulated more than 42,000 operating hours, despite being designed for a 10-year operating lifetime.
ESA’s planned next steps
ESA plans to prepare FSL for safe disposal aboard a future cargo spacecraft, remove it from Columbus, and transfer it to that vehicle for destructive atmospheric reentry. ESA names its X-Ray Facility (XRF) as the first research hardware expected to occupy the space FSL will leave.
