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Axiom Mission 4’s groundbreaking ‘Suite Ride’ experiment by Indian entrepreneur Dr. Shamsheer Vayalil explores diabetes care in space, potentially revolutionizing chronic disease management on Earth.
The launch of Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, US, will mark a powerful moment of Indian excellence in both exploration and innovation. While mission pilot Shubhanshu Shukla is carrying forward India’s legacy in human spaceflight, Dr. Shamsheer Vayalil, Indian entrepreneur and Founder & Chairman of Burjeel Holdings, is driving landmark healthcare research that could redefine chronic disease management both in space and on Earth.
Aptly titled Suite Ride, the initiative developed by the UAE-based Burjeel Holdings in collaboration with Axiom Space, focuses on diabetes monitoring and management in microgravity. It has the potential to transform the future of space travel for astronauts with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), a condition historically considered disqualifying for space missions.
“In pushing the boundaries of healthcare, this mission represents a turning point, not just for space medicine but for chronic care globally,” said Dr. Shamsheer, speaking ahead of Ax-4 launch from Kennedy Space Center. “Burjeel Holdings is proud to collaborate on this groundbreaking study aboard Ax-4, which marks a milestone in medical research and diabetes management. The findings from this study have the potential to benefit future astronauts and patients.”
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What is Suite Ride?
Suite Ride is among the most significant research initiatives on the 14-day mission. The study will utilize Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGMs), which are now standard tools for glucose monitoring in individuals with diabetes. These devices will be tested in microgravity to evaluate their accuracy, delivering real-time data that could ultimately support the health of astronauts with IDDM. Comprehensive preflight, inflight, and postflight protocols will be used to validate these technologies. In addition, the mission will assess insulin exposure in microgravity to evaluate the potency and stability of the drug upon its return to Earth.
Experts from Burjeel Holdings are working closely with Axiom’s space medicine team to jointly analyze the CGM data from the mission.
Implications of Suite Ride
Beyond the International Space Station, the implications of Suite Ride are global. With diabetes expected to affect 783 million people by 2045 according to the International Diabetes Federation. According to the WHO, in India, there are estimated 77 million people above the age of 18 years are suffering from diabetes (type 2) and nearly 25 million are prediabetics (at a higher risk of developing diabetes in near future). The need for advanced remote healthcare solutions for diabetes management has never been more urgent.
“I've always felt that one of the things that we can take advantage of at Axiom Space is to use space as a tool to look at different aspects of medical technologies,” said Ax-4 Commander Peggy Whitson in a pre-mission video message. “So as a biochemist, it’s really exciting for me to do studies on human physiology and to understand what’s going on in space because so many changes occur,” she added.
Over the course of the mission, the four-member crew—Whitson, Shukla, and mission specialists from Poland and Hungary—will conduct over 60 experiments from 31 countries.
For Dr. Shamsheer, this is just the beginning. “For us, space serves as a powerful proving ground. This diabetes research is designed to generate critical insights that can directly impact underserved and hard-to-reach communities worldwide, enabling us to transform healthcare delivery.”
