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A miniature laboratory containing yeast microbes, designed to produce proteins and other food ingredients in space, has been launched into Earth orbit this week.

The project aims to assess whether yeasts can produce food as well as pharmaceuticals, fuel and bioplastics in the microgravity of space.

It involves collaboration between researchers at UK universities Imperial College London and Cranfield University, alongside space-tech companies Frontier Space and Atmos Space Cargo.

According to Imperial, the cost of feeding astronauts aboard space flights can reach around £2,000 per day. The research team aims to help reduce these costs by taking yeasts onboard, which can be engineered to produce food through precision fermentation – a biotechnology method that uses microorganisms as hosts to produce specific functional ingredients, like proteins and fats.

The fully automated miniature microbe laboratory was successfully launched aboard Europe’s first commercial returnable spacecraft, Phoenix, via SpaceX on Monday 21 April at 20:48 ET (Tuesday 22 April at 01:48 BST).

Rodrigo Ledesma-Amaro, from Imperial College’s Department of Bioengineering, said: “We dream about a future where humanity heads off into the dark expanses of space. But carrying enough to feed ourselves on the journey and at our destination would be unimaginable in cost and weight.”

He added: “We’re excited that this project makes use of academic and industry expertise in physics, engineering, biotech and space science – converging on this challenge. If just a handful of cultivated cells could provide all our food, pharmaceuticals, fuels and bioplastics using freely available resources, that would bring the future closer.”

The miniature ‘lab-in-a-box,’ developed using Frontier Space’s technology, transported the microbe specimens to space and will return them to Earth for analysis. This will provide important data about microgravity, long-term storage and the effects of space transportation.

Aqeel Smamsul, CEO of Frontier Space, commented: “This mission represents a major milestone in democratising access to space research. Our SpaceLab Mark 1, 'lab-in-a-box' technology enables researchers to conduct sophisticated experiments in microgravity without the traditional barriers to space-based research.”

Scientists hope that the experiment will accelerate developments in space-based manufacturing and sustainable food production for long-duration missions.