Mycorena, the Swedish mycoprotein producer, has gained financial backing from the European Space Agency's (ESA) Discovery Programme to develop methods for alternative protein production in space.

The funding will be used to enhance the mycoprotein system that won Phase 2 of NASA's 2023 Deep Space Food Challenge. Mycorena will collaborate with AlgoSolis, a French microalgae company, for this project, intended to provide astronauts with sustainable food options that can be produced via closed-circuit systems aboard spacecraft.

Analyst QuickTake: Space agencies like NASA and ESA are looking into plant-based and cell-cultured meat alternatives as food options for space travel to reduce reliance on re-supplies from Earth for long-duration missions. Eternal (formerly Kernel Mycofoods) won Phase 1 of the NASA Deep Space Food Challenge, while Nature’s Fynd collaborated with NASA to research novel food development in low-Earth orbit microgravity and radiation conditions.