Last Updated on 20th September 2020

Just when you thought you’d heard all there was to hear about Elon Musk and cannabis, the tech mogul goes on to push the boundaries even further – by flying hemp into space.

Musk’s aerospace company SpaceX is slated to launch cannabis into space in collaboration with agricultural biotech company Front Range Biosciences.

“This is the first time anyone is researching the effects of microgravity and spaceflight on hemp and coffee cell cultures,” said Jonathan Vaught, co-founder and CEO of Front Range Biosciences.

“There is science to support the theory that plants in space experience mutations. This is an opportunity to see whether those mutations hold up once brought back to earth and if there are new commercial applications.”

Front Range Biosciences is set to partner up with the University of Colorado and tech start-up Space Cells to bring over 480 plant cultures into space. The plant cultures, which will include hemp and coffee, will be transported to the International Space Station on a SpaceX cargo flight scheduled for March 2020.

The plant cultures will spend a month in space before returning to earth for further research.