🎙 Guest: Arttu Luukanen, Head of Space & Defense at Solar Foods

The Cosmic Scoop:

How do we feed ourselves in space? The settlers of the past brought livestock, but in deep space, resupply isn’t an option, and every gram counts. Could microbes be the answer? Enter Solar Foods, a Finnish company producing food from just water, electricity, and bacteria—a breakthrough that won NASA’s Deep Space Food Challenge. It’s no longer just a prototype; it’s ready to scale.

From feeding astronauts on Mars to reshaping food production on Earth, this innovation challenges everything we thought we knew about sustainability.At SXSW in Austin, Texas, Arttu Luukanen reveals why traditional food systems won’t work in space—and how Solein, their microbial protein, could transform the way we eat.

Quotable Insights:

💡 "Microbes don’t have brains, don’t have free will, and all they want to do is multiply. That’s what makes them the perfect food source for deep space."

 💡 "With our method, we can turn CO₂ and hydrogen into protein—it's 100 times more efficient than animal farming."

 💡 "We could place food factories in the desert, powered by solar energy, and produce protein without farmland or livestock."

Cosmic Timestamps:

⏳ [00:00:00] Introduction – How do we feed ourselves in deep space?
⏳ [00:03:05] Arttu’s background: From space research to revolutionizing food
⏳ [00:07:55] Why growing food on Mars is a massive challenge
⏳ [00:12:30] The NASA Deep Space Food Challenge and how Solar Foods won
⏳ [00:19:18] The science behind Solein – food made from air, water, and microbes
⏳ [00:27:42] Why livestock and even plants are inefficient in space
⏳ [00:34:15] Could microbial protein replace farming on Earth?
⏳ [00:40:50] The biggest challenge: Scaling production to industrial levels
⏳ [00:48:12] Will AI and automation make self-replicating food factories possible?
⏳ [00:53:25] Space exploration and the next step for food sustainability

To Explore:

🔗 Solar Foods – https://solarfoods.com
🔗 NASA Deep Space Food Challenge – https://www.nasa.gov/feature/deep-space-food-challenge
🔗 More on microbial protein (ESA feature) – https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Food_from_air_for_space_and_Earth

🎵 Arttu Luukanen's choice: Rush – Countdown 🎶

Spread the Cosmic Love!

🚀 Enjoyed this episode? Share it with friends, colleagues, and fellow space enthusiasts!
📩 Subscribe to our Substack: Space Café Podcast – https://spacecafepodcast.substack.com
🔗 Find Markus on LinkedIn: Markus Mooslechner – https://www.linkedin.com/in/markus-mooslechner-87878085/

Send us a text

You can find us on Spotify and Apple Podcast!

Please visit us at SpaceWatch.Global, subscribe to our newsletters. Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter!