Space Seed Holdings Takes Part in Science Castle Asia 2026, an International Conference for Secondary School Students in Malaysia
Space Seed Holdings Inc. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director and CEO: Kengo Suzuki; “SSHD”) took part in Science Castle Asia 2026, an international conference for junior and senior high school students held on Saturday and Sunday, August 22–23, 2026, at Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia.
Spacenome Inc. (Headquarters: Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Daigo Fujita; “Spacenome”), in which SSHD has invested, exhibited as a Supporting Partner of the conference, and SSHD introduced its space research activities at that booth. Kengo Suzuki attended in person and spoke directly with visiting students, teachers and researchers. On the second day, Sunday, August 23, Spacenome also held a space-themed robotics workshop.
Science Castle Asia is an international STEM conference for secondary school students organized by the Leave a Nest Group. In 2026, under the theme “ADVANCED SCIENCE,” students gathered from ten countries and regions—Malaysia, Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, South Korea and the UAE—for 11 oral presentations and 137 poster presentations.
Space research introduced at the booth
At the booth, SSHD and Spacenome introduced their space research in a form accessible to secondary school students.
- Observing Euglena on the return satellite “AOBA,” and recruiting participating schools: Spacenome plans to fly an ultra-small cell culture module on “AOBA,” a recoverable small satellite that ElevationSpace Inc. plans to launch in the second half of 2026 or later, to observe how the microalga Euglena moves and grows in space. Participating schools will culture the same Euglena on the ground, record the same types of data, and compare them with the orbital data. The booth invited interested schools and teachers to join this inquiry-based learning in space biology, in which students handle everything from research planning, culture, data collection and analysis to presentation.
- SpaceAgent, a research platform that advances experiments autonomously in space and on the ground: a platform built around a large language model (LLM) that conducts experiments autonomously, developed by SSHD together with Spacenome, Regenesome Inc. and IDDK Co., Ltd. Visitors heard how it keeps experimental decisions going even in orbit, where communication is thin and intermittent.
- The online research school “NEST LAB.”: a program with four majors (biology and earth, knowledge engineering, sustainability science, and robotics and AI) in which students turn their interests into research and, accompanied by working researchers, proceed from setting questions to experiments, analysis and presentation. An English program for overseas participants is also under consideration.
A space-themed robotics workshop
On the second day, Sunday, August 23, Spacenome held a space-themed robotics workshop. Participating students operated robots and sensors themselves and experienced both the difficulty and the fun of “measuring,” “moving” and “deciding” in the environment of space.
Why take part in a conference for secondary school students?
SSHD’s space R&D aims to place a laboratory in orbit, and to place in space the very decisions that move an experiment forward. When that platform exists, the opportunity to experiment in space will no longer belong only to researchers. Students who run the same culture on the ground and compare it with orbital data are already researchers in space biology.
Spacenome has SPACE LAB., a research division that practices “rapid iteration of small experiments” in space, and NEST LAB., which nurtures the next generation of researchers; Kengo Suzuki serves as Director of its SPACE LAB. SSHD participates in both Spacenome’s research and its education through the underlying technology for space experiments and the design of research themes.
Comment
“Malaysian students presented their own research confidently in English and answered questions on the spot. Seeing them, I became convinced that space research should be open to them, too. Space experiments have been rare, and once they failed there was no second chance. The platform we are developing is meant to change that premise. Students will think about how Euglena grew in orbit side by side with the Euglena they grew in their classroom. In ten years, students with that experience will be the ones doing research in space. Our goal is to assemble by 2040 the technologies people need to live in space, and nurturing the people who will carry this forward is as important as developing the technology.”
—Kengo Suzuki, Representative Director and CEO, Space Seed Holdings Inc., who staffed the booth on site
Science Castle Asia 2026 overview
- Name: Science Castle Asia 2026
- Theme: ADVANCED SCIENCE
- Dates: Saturday–Sunday, August 22–23, 2026
- Venue: Dewan Tuanku Canselor, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM), Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia
- Organizer: Leave a Nest Malaysia
- Co-host: Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM)
- Presentations: 11 oral and 137 poster presentations (ten countries and regions)
- Official page: https://castle.lne.st/schedule/science-castle-asia-2026/
About Spacenome Inc.
- Headquarters: 1-4 Shimomiyabicho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
- Representative: Daigo Fujita, Representative Director
- Business: discovering and designing research themes that use the space environment (SPACE LAB.), and nurturing next-generation researchers, mainly secondary school students (NEST LAB.). Plans orbital observation of the microalga Euglena on the return satellite “AOBA.” A Leave a Nest group company; Space Seed Holdings invested in March 2026.
- Website: https://spacenome.jp/
About Space Seed Holdings Inc.
- Headquarters: Hamamatsucho Dia Building 2F, 2-2-15 Hamamatsucho, Minato-ku, Tokyo
- Representative: Kengo Suzuki, Representative Director and CEO
- Established: January 2024
- Business: R&D related to SpaceAgent, a platform for conducting research autonomously both in space and on the ground; deep tech in space × fermentation and space × medicine
- Website: https://ss-hd.co.jp/