Astronauts in the foreseeable future will be able to feast on cultured meat, without harming any animals in the process. This innovative meat production method will soon be tested out in space, prior to large-scale, potential application on Earth. But is this all really necessary? A recurring question when it comes to planning long-term space travel is how to sustainably feed astronauts. In the International Space Station, at only 400 kilometers above sea level, a few supply cargo ships, freeze-dried sachets and two or three salads that grow in weightlessness are typically enough. However, if space explorers wish to travel further away from Earth, leaving with years worth of food is not plausible; they will need a solution to grow their own food. Numerous projects are already underway to grow fruit or vegetables in space, but recently the European Space Agency (ESA) has also launched the development of a technology to grow meat, as announced on March 31, 2022. Rather than raising space cattle that float around in low gravity, the project aims to make astronaut-friendly and edible synthetic meat.
The ESA believes that cultivated meat could change everything from the environment, to human health, and animal welfare. By overcoming our planet’s meat production challenge in outer space, we may be able to produce sustainable and efficient meat back on Earth.
Cultured meat has headlined the news for quite some time now, the basic principle being to produce meat in a laboratory using animal cells. It’s a similar technique to what is already being used in regenerative medicine to regrow tissues or human organs. When applied to meat, this method has not yet been fully mastered for large-scale production, without it becoming a luxury product or risk to our health.
Nonetheless, the question arises: will all this be useful? Beyond the biological challenge that synthetic meat represents, developing this technique in space despite its associated constraints is where things become particularly complicated. One has to find a system small enough to be transported, capable of operating in low gravity settings, and of producing a maximum amount of product using a minimum amount of raw materials.
The sheer amount of difficulties provokes the question as to whether a simple vegetable garden wouldn’t be more efficient, especially considering meat alternatives exist to provide the human body with the necessary vitamins and proteins. Wouldn’t it therefore be easier if all astronauts were just vegetarians? Philippe Stéfanini, anthropologist at the CNRS, believes that depriving them of meat is risking depression and that a switch in diet is not always as easy as one may think. Eating meat is still part of many people’s cultural habits and stripping individuals from these products, especially considering they are far from home, in space, in an enclosed place, and for a long period of time is not the best idea. Stéfanini works with both ESA and NASA to design sustainable food for astronauts, and despite the fact that many diets are devoid of meat, he considers that providing the option to astronauts will remain necessary for their mental health. To deprive these temporarily estranged individuals of meat is risking depression-related disorders, which is ultimately disastrous for any space mission.
Meat would ultimately be nostalgic memorabilia from home that astronauts could bring with them on their journey. Earth’s ecological crisis is increasingly forcing us to remove meat from our everyday plates, and thus if we want to achieve this smooth upheaval, a solution must be made. It is for this reason that the ESA specifies that this outer space system must also be applicable on Earth. So far, two teams have been selected, one in Germany and the other in the United Kingdom, each working in tandem with one another to satisfy the needs of astronauts and overcome the constraints that come with making this technology accessible in space.
Going forward, this research will help focus attention and drive efforts around key issues concerning the feasibility of cultured meat practices. In today’s society, technology is crucial for space travel, and even more so for humans on Earth, especially at a time where meat production remains a detrimental ecological abyss. Unfortunately, cultured meat, too, is not free from such reproaches, and generates a significant environmental impact for the time being. Cultured space meat research could potentially help procure a sustainable product that is easily accessible to the greater degree of individuals.
