UK Funding for Space Plants Research

Header image: Lettuce in a grow room. Image credit: University of Western Australia (UWA).

In August 2023, the UK Space Agency awarded a research grant to vertical farming R&D company Vertical Future to develop a Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) facility for future space exploration missions. Vertical Future was the first UK-based company in the agri-space sector, working with “international experts in both plant biology and space technologies and operations, including Axiom Space, Saber Astronautics, the University of Southern Queensland, along with their Plants for Space (P4S) research partners at the University of Adelaide and the University of Cambridge.”

The project’s first phase researched the design requirements for a fully-autonomous agriculture system with remote or AI-monitoring capabilities that could support deep space missions. The project team visited NASA’s Kennedy Space Center for a workshop on developing the specifications for a CEA facility that operates within the constraints and challenges of deep space and the International Space Station (ISS). They also tested data transfer requirements between the Vertical Future facilities installed at Vertical Future’s R&D site in London and The Waite Research Institute, University of Adelaide, Australia.

“We are excited to have the opportunity to work alongside global experts in both plant biology and space technology to develop life-changing technology. Several studies have shown that having access to high-quality fresh produce is important not just for one’s nutrition but also their mental well-being. Astronauts typically lack access to a varied diet whilst in space which this project is working to solve, by providing a wide variety of high-quality