by Jan Cauchi
The Maltese Government in conjunction with a number of other local and international entities, such as Arkafort and the University of Malta, will be launching its project into space, with its final destination being the International Space Station.
The project is being dubbed as Project Maleth
Scroll down for updated launch details following postponement of Saturday's scheduled lift off...
One of the collaborators on this project is University of Malta's Professor Joseph Borg, who worked together with Afshin Beheshti and Christopher Mason, both in their roles of Principal Investigators at NASA Ames Research Centre and Weill Cornell Medicine in the US, respectively.
Maleth will be looking at shooting into space a study conducted on the effects of space on human blood and control of haemoglobin expression, as well as the study of skin microbiomes of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus patients.
Both the above are of much importance to the local Maltese context with diabetes being one of Malta's most challenging medical conditions.
Malta involving itself in Space
“It is not only about astronauts and launches but it’s also part of our everyday life, from making a phone call to navigating our way around when driving. Hence Space provides a myriad of areas for research and innovation,”
- Hon. Minister, Owen Bonnici
Minister for Research, Innovation and the coordination of post COVID-19 Strategy
Innovation at its very best: Project Maleth will see a research capsule sent to space for specialised biomedical research. A first for our country. 🇲🇹
— innovazzjoni (@innovazzjoni) May 16, 2021
@UMmalta@MaltaGov@MFEAMalta pic.twitter.com/MKLwho7mHC
Project led by UM professor
Professor Joseph Borg, is at the helm of Project Maleth, collaborating efforts of his team, together with the team at the Ministry, as well as the Space Applications Services in Belgium.
Borg is a professor of Applied Biomedical Science at the University's Faculty of Health Sciences. He is also the President of the Malta Association of Biomedical Students, where his role sees him leading a research team in related areas.
Launch date
The launch date is set for this Saturday, 28 August 2021 at 09:30 (Malta time)
UPDATE: Launch has been scrubbed to Sunday, 29 August 2021 at around 09:14 (Malta time)
For your viewing pleasure, we are also embedding a link to NASA live stream below 
Live Stream
NASA
Alternatively, you can join a live webinar organised by Arkafort,
which will feature the launch, as well as a number of local and international speakers.
Webinar will start an hour before scheduled launch: 28 August 2021 at 08:30 (Malta time)
Exciting times for Malta's scientists and those with a flair for space exploration.
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