Here comes HOBI-WAN, spacey food experiment from Finnish Solar Foods

Finnish biotech company Solar Foods has signed a contract with OHB System AG, a major European space and technology company, on the development of a small-scale Solein® gas fermentation technology pilot with the aim of eventually testing the technology onboard the International Space Station. 

The project is funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) under its Terrae Novae Exploration Programme and it aims to develop a prototype of the Solein production technology suitable for zero-gravity operations, accelerating Solar Foods’ development of its space food production technology. The company aims for its technology to become integral to human space habitats.  

The project HOBI-WAN (Hydrogen Oxidizing Bacteria In Weightlessness As a source of Nutrition) follows Solar Foods’ successfully completed initial technology development project with ESA. The first eight-month phase of the project will develop a so-called science model, a ground-based version of the Solein production technology which will provide the scientific results and verify fundamental questions that are needed to develop the eventual flight model. 

If the first phase is successful, the follow-up phase will focus on the development of the flight model with the aim of launching it to the International Space Station (ISS).