October 22, 2021 (JST)

National Research and Development Agency
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
Takenaka Corporation
Kirin Holdings Company, Limited
Chiba University
Tokyo University of Science

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (President: Hiroshi Yamakawa; “JAXA”), Takenaka Corporation (President: Masato Sasaki), Kirin Holdings Company, Limited (President & CEO: Yoshinori Isozaki), Chiba University (President: Toshinori Nakayama), and Tokyo University of Science (President: Soichiro Okamura), aiming at food production during long-term stays in space for future lunar and other exploration missions, carried out a demonstration experiment of the plastic culture bagtechnology at the Japanese Experiment Module “Kibo” on the International Space Station (ISS). This was a first of its kind in the world.

Background of Experiment
As the space development sector is seeing momentum gathering for expanding the sphere of human activities to near-Earth objects, such as the moon and Mars, JAXA is promoting technology development to serve this purpose. One of such research projects aims to set up farms on the moon and produce food to enable long-term stays with reduced supply from the Earth. In the future plan for farming on the lunar surface, disease and pest control and emergency food supply will be the key to sustained stable production. Also, cultivation systems will need to be downsized to be transported appropriately from the Earth.

In this context, JAXA, Takenaka Corporation, Kirin Holdings Co., Ltd., Chiba University, and Tokyo University of Science teamed up in a framework for the open call for joint research proposals of the JAXA Space Exploration Innovation Hub, and started in 2017 to develop the plastic culture bag technology with a view to application to space activities (*1). The technology is to grow plants in a small closed bag, which can prevent bacterial contamination and odor leakage. The cultivation system is housed in compact simple equipment, which enables easy maintenance, energy saving, and flexible control of production volume (Fig. 1). The recent demonstration was planned to confirm achievements from the team’s past efforts. The experiment was performed in Kibo using lettuce to assess the effectiveness of the cultivation method in a micro-gravity, closed environment, and advantages over hydroponics and soil cultivation.

Expected future application
Major expected future applications of the plastic culture bag technology include mass production of leafy vegetables and virus-free growth of seedlings, which will support long-duration manned planetary exploration missions and large-scale cultivation in spacecraft in orbit and/or accommodation on the moon (Fig. 2). The joint research project will continue to further develop the technology to be able to contribute to sustainable space activities.