Chinese researchers have found a new, previously unknown bacteria species on the Tiangong Space Station, a Chinese modular space station in low Earth orbit. These findings are recorded in the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology. The discovery has been formally named as Niallia tiangongensis. These findings were made from the microbial samples collected from multiple surfaces across the space station during the Shenzhou 15 mission, which landed on Earth in June 2023.