Cultivating Meat in Space Shows “Promising” Potential, says European Space Agency
The European Space Agency (ESA) has released an update on the potential for growing meat in space, revealing that the research looks “promising.” Since 2021, the ESA has sought experts in cultivated meat for its future explorations. And over the last year, the agency has supported research with funding from the Discovery element (part of the ESA’s Basic Activities) to ascertain whether producing cell-based meat “in situ” to feed astronauts on long-term missions is feasible. Two teams — the space biotech company Yuri and Reutlingen University from Germany, and cellag company Kayser Space and research company Campden BRI from the UK — worked independently to develop the idea further. They compared the existing protein food alternatives studied in space, such as plants and algae, to cultivated meat as a protein source. …