The Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research Trust is sending seven local research projects to the International Space Station, each backed by a $50,000 grant - $350,000 in direct research funding, with launch costs covered on top of the awards^[1][2][3]. The program runs on funding from the island's Department of Economic Development and Commerce^[4], with commercial space biotech firm Rhodium Scientific preparing the projects for flight^[5]. Interest is scaling fast: the program's first edition in 2024 drew four proposals; this year's drew sixteen^[6][7]. The 2026 slate runs from agriculture to biotech and materials science - plantain tissue adapted for space conditions^[8], Caribbean sargassum studied for oral-health applications^[9], materials manufactured in orbit^[10], and liquid-crystal sensors that detect substances without markers^[11]. One of the seven, Dr. Christopher A. Sambolín-Pérez's plantain project, asks how plant tissue responds to spaceflight^[12]. The pipeline has precedent: the Trust's first cohort produced Rhodium StemCell 01 - the first Trust-funded mission to reach space - launched aboard SpaceX's CRS-31 cargo mission in November 2024^[13][14]. The grants ride a larger current. Invest Puerto Rico says the island's aerospace sector grew 62% over five years and added more than 8,200 jobs - a figure the agency does not source^[15][16]. A May 2026 survey by Estudios Técnicos of 23 aerospace companies found firms planning workforce expansion over the next 12 to 36 months^[17][18], but also island engineering and aviation salaries running 30% to 60% below California, Florida and Texas levels^[19]. Private money is moving too: Keystone Optical Network has committed up to $75 million to Laser Light Holdings and its planned HALO satellite constellation^[20]. What the island still does not have is a way to launch anything itself. The Local Redevelopment Authority's RFP for a vertical space launch facility at Roosevelt Roads in Ceiba - a site floated as a spaceport since 2023 - was cancelled, with the authority calling the move a best-public-interest decision^{[21][22][23][24]}.