World’s first zero gravity coffee maker on International Space Station

Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoferetti has taken the world’s first zero gravity coffee maker onto the International Space Station.

The specially designed espresso machine will produce authentic Italian coffee in zero gravity. Italy’s first female astronaut will also be the first in history to sip real espresso while orbiting the Earth.

The ISSpresso machine has been custom-made by Italian coffee company LavAzza, in cooperation with Argotec – an aerospace company that specialises in creating space food.

The machine is similar to any capsule-based, single-cup coffee maker, but reimagined and engineered to deal with the challenges of operation in a zero gravity environment.

The unit has to be super leak-proof and while the tube that carries steaming water only has to withstand around nine bars of pressure on Earth, the space version is designed to withstand 400 bars – or 5,800 pounds of pressure per square inch.

Both the water and the final coffee beverage are contained in the pouches, from which the astronauts sip the coffee.