Cellular Agriculture in Space

Cell-based meat (cultured meat)
Muscle cells Bioreactor
Culture
medium
Processing

Energy conversion efficiency
< 0.1%
Prospectively,
Microalgae: 4~11%?
“Artificial leaf”: 10%+?
https://aiche.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.100
2/btpr.2941 Y.Okamoto et al. Biotech. Prog. 2019
~4%
~35%
50~90%
Unregulated
Shepon, Eschel et al, IOP Science 2016
http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/17
48-9326/11/10/105002/meta

Cell-based meat (“synthetic meat”) in Sci-Fi
Mars CellAg Farm Orbital Facility
Culture vats - a Sci-Fi gadget
https://seiga.nicovideo.jp/seiga/im5526417
Pub. in 1952 Pub. in 2012

Outlook of food in space
Scenario
by MRI
https://www.spa
cefood-x.com/
Professionals visit Many commoners liveScenario
Space food Algae/insects? Space farming
Professionals live
Source
of food
~10 people in orbit
Privatization of ISS, space
tourism and hotels open
~10 people on the Moon
Lunar Gateway
Artemis Program
~100 in orbit
Space tourism streamlined
Space hotels expand
30~60 on the Moon
Lunar Gateway Phase 2
Construction of Moonbase
800~ in orbit
Mass space tourism
Moon flight route via orbit
200 on the Moon
Moonbase expands
Lunar tourism
~2025 ~2035 ~2045
Nutritional needs Nutritional needs Social and human purposes

Requirements for space food (and agriculture)
Space food for limited few professionals
A few professionals fly for a mission lasting up to 10
days, ~2025
Space agriculture for unspecified commoners
More than 100 common people live, and several-fold
more people visit for short durations, ~2045?
Organoleptic acceptability ↑ More important
Nutritional efficacy ↘ Desired but less important
Safety for 3~5yr period ↓ Less important
Launch weight ↓ Less important
Waste mass ↘ Desired but less important
Micro-G cooking process ↘ Remains important on the orbit, but less on the Moon
Packaging mass ↓ Less important
Requirements for space agriculture
Facility weight ↑ Important in space, but not on land
Reliability ↗ Important in space, more so than on land
Material abundance ↑ Important in space, but not on land
Waste recyclability ↗ Important in space, more so than on land
[1]
[1] Developing the NASA Food System for Long‐Duration Missions https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1750-3841.2010.01982.x

Studies at JAXA: requirements for space farms
1. Construction of farming
environments
2. Establishment of life in space
by sustainable agriculture
Maximized recycling of materials to
support life in very limited resources
Biological Science in Space,
Vol21 No4 2007 135-141 S.Wada
https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/bss/21/4/21_4_135/_article/-char/en
NASA

“Minimal space farm” by JAXA
“Minimal farm components”:
Rice, sweet potato, leafy green,
silkworm, salt, pond loach, soy
Assuming 100 people living for 20 days...
・Plants-only diet causes deficiencies in
vitamin D, vitamin B12, protein, cholesterol
and fats.
・Silkworm and pond loach supply protein
and fats
Space Utiliz Res 26 2010 ISAS/JAXA 2010 S.Wada
https://repository.exst.jaxa.jp/dspace/handle/a-is/15406

Launch fresh food
Launch dry food
Insects &
fungi
Cellular
agriculture
Algae
Indoor
farms
They supply volatile elements and are superior in
nutrition and organoleptic acceptability, but launch
weight is large, supply disruption risk is high and
storage durability is short and require packaging
Superior in nutrition and reliability, but require algae and
indoor farms for its inputs and processing is needed for
organoleptic acceptability
Superior in nutrition and reliability, processing is needed
for organoleptic acceptability
Superior in nutrition and organoleptic acceptability,
but misses some nutrition.
Spacefarms
Superior in nutrition and organoleptic acceptability, but
require algae and indoor farms for its inputs
Combination of indoor farms, algae and cellular agriculture for the best outcome?
Options for food in space

Inputs and outputs of space cellular agriculture
Meat is the more desirable protein source from social well-being
point of view, as culinary acceptability becomes more important
in supporting large number of non-professionals settlers.
Since conventional meat production methods require excessive
amount of resources, alternatives are needed.
Average per capita
meat consumption
130g/day
200L bioreactor,
1㎡ footprint,
Capacity 260g/day
Inputs
Amino acid 31g
Glucose 63g
Inputs
Algae 325g
https://aiche.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
/doi/abs/10.1002/btpr.2941
Hydrolyzer
10㎡ footprint,
100kg/day capacity

Atom cycles need to be closed in space farms
C
Carbon
P
Phos-
phorus
N
Nitrogen
S
Sulfur

“Atom cycle” in space farming
・Electrolysis of water for O2
・CO2 absorption by alkaline water to
culture spirulina and calcareous algae
・Algae in brine decomposed by
thermophilic soil bacteria makes
K-containing fertilizer
・Improved soil aeration removes
CaCO3 and CaSO4 to avoid
phosphate immobilization
Biological Science in Space,
Vol21 No4 2007 135-141 S. Wada
Other considerations
・Cultivate morus to supply wood for habitat interior materials, silkworm for consumption
・Some plants require bees for pollination - can bees fly at 0.2atm?

In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU)
Setup for O2 production from
Martian atmospheric CO2
Obtainable resources
Water and H2 from ice in polar craters?[1]
Low on essential volatiles for life, i.e. C, N
“Lunar concrete” obtainable from regolith?
Bases can be build around subterranean ice.
Farming based on C & N (CO2 95%, N2 2%)
available from atmosphere?[2]
[1] https://www.pnas.org/content/115/36/8907
[2] https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/bss/21/4/21_4_135/_pdf/-char/en
(Extinct) comet cores - “Dirty snowball” rich
in volatiles and organics can be mined?
Moons and dwarf planets in outer solar
system i.e. Ganymede, Europa, Pluto have
icy crust and rich in water and volatiles
i.e. Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment

Speculative Martian biomass facility ”Nirvana Alpha”

Wastewater
sedimentation &
filtration
Crust
materials
K,Na,ice
S,P,metals
Low-T
Nitrogen
fixation
Furnace
Hydrolysis
Vertical
farms
cellular
agriculture
Algae
culture
Habitats
Atmosphere
CO2,N2,Ar
Compression
Gas tank
CO2/N2
CO2/N2
Biomass
Nutrients(sugars/
amino acids)
N2
Nutrients
(NH3)
Treated
wastewater
Filtered
sediments
O2
Waste-
water
Biological
fixation
Chemical
fixation
Nutrients
(S,P,minerals)
“Nirvana Alpha”
・The facility treats waste
water and produces food to
fixate biologically relevant
elements from minerals and
atmosphere
・All materials are obtained
through ISRU
・Fixation methods include
chemical and biological (i.e.
sulfur bacteria)
・Wastewater treatment
mainly includes
sedimentation and filtration
・Filtered sediments can be
sintered for construction
materials.
Speculative system diagram for a Martian facility
Biomass &
food

Speculative plutonian biomass facility ”Hadean Orgamass”

70℃
25℃
Heat
exchanger
High-T
steam
turbine
Low-T
steam
turbine
Nitrogen
gas turbine
Crust
material
ice, CO2,
CH4, N2
Generator
Nitrogen
gas
High-T steam Low-T steam
N2
gas
water
CO2
NH3
Impurity
Electro-l
ysis
Low-T
Nitrogen
fixation
Hydrogen
reforma-
tion
Vertical
farms
cellular
agriculture
Hydrogen
bacteria
CH4
Impurity
Amino acids
O2
H2CO2NH3
Sugars
Liquid-N2
condenser Rocky waste
Biomass &
food
Ice, dryice
・Nuclear powered plutonian biomass
production facility feeding on crust materials
・Nuclear power at near 100% Carnot heat
efficiency using near absolute zero heat
sink・Liquid nitrogen combined cycle power
・100% on in situ resource utilization
・Replacement of some bioprocesses with
chemical synthesis
Reactorcore
Algae
culture
Speculative system diagram for a Plutonian facility

Summary
・Long-term shift from space food to space farming
・There is a preceding literature on a space farming scheme that
takes atom cycle into account
・A combination of indoor farms, algae and cellular agriculture
fulfills the requirements for space-based food production system?
・An input of 325g/(day-person) of algae is required to produce
130g/(day-person) of cell-based meat.
・ISRU depends on the location and so are the designs of space
farming facilities.