The prospect of long-duration space travel to the Moon or Mars raises a fundamental question for crew survival: food self-sufficiency. Far from Earth, resupply from our planet quickly becomes impractical, both logistically and economically. This constraint is pushing space agencies to completely rethink food production in space.
The European Space Agency has embarked on an innovative approach to solve this equation. Its Terrae Novae program supports the HOBI-WAN project, which aims to test a new method of food production directly in orbit. This initiative relies on collaboration between scientists and industry partners to develop technology capable of operating in the space environment.
Food self-sufficiency in space
Current missions to the International Space Station (ISS) benefit from regular resupply from Earth. While this solution is effective for stays in low Earth orbit, it reaches its limits for more distant destinations. Transport over such distances would represent a prohibitive cost and pose considerable technical difficulties. The search for alternatives therefore becomes a necessity for future space exploration.
The solution being studied is called Solein, a protein powder developed by the Finnish company Solar Foods. On Earth, its production uses microorganisms that would transform carbon dioxide into nutrients through a gas fermentation process. The originality of this approach lies in its low requirement for external resources, a decisive advantage for long space missions.
However, adapting this technology to space requires significant adjustments. In microgravity, the behavior of fluids and gases changes radically, which could affect the fermentation process. Researchers must therefore redesign the system to ensure its operation under these particular conditions.
A technology in the testing phase
Producing Solein in space involves modifying the terrestrial process. Indeed, our planet uses ammonia as a nitrogen source, but ammonia is difficult to obtain in space. Thus, the space version would replace ammonia with... urea, an organic compound present in astronauts' urine. This adaptation would allow for recycling human waste while providing the elements necessary for protein synthesis.
The project is now entering an intensive development phase. For eight months, teams will work to design a prototype capable of operating in the space environment. This preparatory work is essential to identify technical problems specific to microgravity and develop appropriate solutions before any orbital testing.
Safety is a major concern in the system's design. The mixture of hydrogen and oxygen required for the process presents risks that must be absolutely controlled. The future equipment will therefore need to incorporate very strict safety devices to be used aboard the International Space Station without danger to the crew.
Article author: Cédric DEPOND