Meat For Space - Examining the ability of cow cells to mature into cells that build muscle tissue - the steak - under microgravity conditions

Prolonged stay in space is limited by the ability to provide quality nutrition to astronauts. Aleph Farms is developing a technological platform for the production of cultivated beef steaks in a process that consumes a significantly smaller portion of the resources needed to raise an entire animal for meat.

The process is carried out under sterile environmental conditions that ensure its efficiency, frequency, and safety of the final product. Aleph Farms conducted a successful first experiment at the International Space Station in September 2019 in which it was able to assemble meat tissue using three-dimensional bio-printing.

In the present experiment, as part of a Rakia Mission, we will investigate the effect of microgravity on the proliferation and differentiation of the cow cells that make up the muscle tissue, as they become the building blocks of steak. Understanding these processes will advance Aleph's ability to develop a complete process of cultivated meat production for long-term space missions and build an efficient production process that reduces the environmental footprint on earth.