**Call it Pee-cycling: How Astronauts Could Soon Eat Food Made from Urine and Thin Air**
Just in case people thought airline food was inedible, astronauts on future missions to the Moon and Mars could subsist on a brand-new “space food” concocted from thin air and urine, the European Space Agency (ESA) announced.
“This project aims at developing a key resource which will allow us to improve human spaceflight’s autonomy, resilience and also the well-being of our astronauts,” said Angelique Van Ombergen, the ESA’s chief exploration scientist, as reported by The Independent.
The key ingredient? Urea — an organic compound found in urine — which provides the essential nitrogen source for synthesizing protein in space. On Earth, this process is typically facilitated by ammonia.
### The HOBI-WAN Project: Turning Urine into Nutrition
The ESA’s goal is to test whether this “micturate moonshine” can be manufactured aboard the International Space Station (ISS) as part of a pioneering project called HOBI-WAN, which stands for “Hydrogen Oxidizing Bacteria In Weightlessness As a source of Nutrition.”
“The aim of the project is to confirm that our organism grows in the space environment as it does on the ground, and to develop the fundamentals of gas fermentation technology to be used in space — something that has never been done before in the history of humankind,” said Arttu Luukanen, senior vice president of space and defense at Solar Foods, in a statement cited by Space.com.
He also explained the unique challenges faced in microgravity: “The behavior of gases and liquids in microgravity is vastly different due to the lack of buoyancy, which can drastically affect the transport of nutrients and gases for Solein microbes.”
### Why This Innovation Matters
This initiative is not just a quirky experiment. With companies like SpaceX and international space agencies eyeing missions to Mars, sustaining astronauts on these long-distance voyages becomes increasingly crucial.
Currently, the ISS relies on food manufactured on Earth and shipped to the station. While this system works for low-Earth orbit missions, it would be impractical — both financially and logistically — for extended trips to the Moon or Mars.
“For human beings to be able to implement long-duration missions on the Moon, or even one day, to go to Mars, will require innovative and sustainable solutions to be able to survive with limited supplies,” Van Ombergen said.
“With this project, the ESA is developing a key capability for the future of space exploration.”
### What’s Next for Solein?
The team will initially focus on developing this sustainable technology here on Earth over the next eight months. If successful, the manufacturing process will then be trialed in a microgravity environment aboard the ISS.
The hope is that Solein — the protein produced from this process — will eventually become a staple food among astronauts.
“This project is just the beginning. We are working towards reaching operational capability: being able to produce Solein in a range of production scales in space,” Luukanen added.
“Our vision is that by 2035, Solein is the mainstay protein of space explorers.”
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As space agencies push the boundaries of exploration, innovations like pee-cycling could transform not only how astronauts eat but how humanity survives beyond Earth.
https://nypost.com/2025/11/10/science/astronauts-could-eat-pee-powder-in-near-future/
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