La Trobe University and Gaia Project Australia have earned their spot as finalists in NASA’s Deep Space Food Challenge. Their innovative approach aims to revolutionise how food is grown for long space journeys, including the Artemis missions to the moon and Mars.
The project features a vertical farm capable of growing leafy and micro greens in just 28 days, a significant improvement from the usual three months required when grown in soil. This rapid growth is achieved in a controlled environment, showcasing the ingenuity of experts from La Trobe’s engineering and plant sciences departments alongside the team at Gaia Project Australia. The collaborative effort took six months to design and build a prototype suitable for space.
The team, named Enigma of the Cosmos, will head to Ohio in the US for the final stage of the competition on 15 and 16 August, where NASA will select the winners.
Dr Alex Stumpf, La Trobe Engineering Lecturer, expressed pride in their work, highlighting that they are the only Australian team among several international competitors. “Our team spent many long days and nights creating the world’s first expandable grow channel vertical farm system. We are extremely proud of the unit, and we are excited to see what the judges think of our system. I believe we will do well in the competition, but regardless of the outcome, the system and the ideas will lead to real impact back here on Earth,” said Dr Stumpf.
Nadun Hennayaka, Founder and CEO of Gaia Project Australia, explained that while the project aims to provide a varied and healthy diet for astronauts, it also has significant implications for Earth-based farming. “With so many people living in high-density city apartments, the depletion of soils and unpredictable weather patterns, using vertical farms will be the future for large-scale food production and even domestic growing,” he noted. “Growing food without soil, with exactly the right nutrients, leads to less crop waste and eliminates the threats of pests, disease, and adverse weather conditions damaging the crops.”
The system’s efficiency is also notable. Conventional farming allows about 15 heads of lettuce per square metre, while advanced robotic greenhouses can increase this to 25-40 heads. However, these come with high initial costs. The Enigma of the Cosmos system, maximising space efficiency without complex robotics, can grow 50-55 plants per square metre at a third of the cost.
Professor Mathew Lewsey from the La Trobe Institute for Sustainable Agriculture and Food emphasised the educational impact of this technology. “We are using Gaia’s technology to train the next generation of plant technologists. As part of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Plants for Space, our students are simulating how crops could grow during spaceflight and working to improve yield. They are applying what they learn to develop better varieties and growth conditions for use in vertical farms.”
As the team prepares for the final challenge, their work not only promises to advance space agriculture but also to bring innovative solutions to Earth’s farming challenges.
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