SpaceBakery—Sourdough Bread on Planet Mars for Sustainable Innovation on Earth

On May 30, 2020, SpaceX launched its first Falcon 9 rocket crewed mission and, with it, a new era of spaceflight in which low-Earth orbit is commercialized and private vehicles can now ferry people to and from space. According to SpaceX, this is a first step toward reaching the planet Mars and settling the first human colony. Although detailed technical elements are being investigated to reach this goal, the challenges of food supply and production have been left mainly unspoken. With a travel time of approximately 7–9 months, a minimum required stay of 2 years, and a high payload cost, it will be impossible to ship all nutrition from Earth to Mars. To tackle this challenge, Puratos, together with different partners, has launched SpaceBakery, a research project on how to feed the first Martian colonists. On May 30, 2020, SpaceX launched its first Falcon 9 rocket crewed mission and, with it, a new era of spaceflight in which low-Earth orbit is commercialized and private vehicles can now ferry people to and from space (7). According to SpaceX, this is a first step toward reaching the planet Mars and settling the first human colony at this remote location by 2024 (2). This disruptive idea has been explored by major space agencies, although spread over time due to high risk and investment costs. While detailed technical elements are being investigated on how to reach this goal, the challenges of food supply and production have been left mainly unspoken. With a travel time of approximately 7–9 months, a minimum required stay of 2 years, and a high payload cost, it will be impossible to ship all nutrition from Earth to Mars. To tackle this challenge, Puratos, a global ingredient supplier for bakery, patisserie, and chocolate, together with different partners has launched SpaceBakery, a research project on how to feed the first Martian colonists. SpaceBakery has been set up around the idea of developing a “closed ecological plant cultivation system and bakery” suitable for a Mars mission concept but designed and engineered for direct equivalent applications on Earth: a closed and self-sustainable modular system that is independent from agricultural land or climate and makes optimal use of resources. The specific objective of the project consortium has direct parallels with the challenges of bioregenerative life-support technologies for space applications. As such, the consortium is also targeting valorization on Earth of developed technologies, as some of the challenges faced are quite similar, although to a different extent, to those faced by future colonies on Mars. In this context, one can think about spillover of solutions, such as tackling water scarcity and extreme climate conditions, efficient nutrient use (both for plants and humans), as well concepts based on food circularity. Because of the multidisciplinary approach, Puratos is partnering with research institutions (SCK.CEN, Ghent University, and Hasselt University) and technology providers (Urban Crop Solutions, Magics Instruments) to investigate how wheat (and bread) can be produced in controlled environments with minimal use of resources. SpaceBakery is innovative in its in-depth investigation of the entire cycle from seed to bread, with a strong emphasis on circularity and sustainability.