Tor Blomqvist is an agronomist, a former chef and a researcher in the field of space agriculture. Photo: Jon Lindhe, KTH

Published Jun 18, 2026

What are we going to eat in space? That’s what KTH doctoral student Tor Blomqvist wants to find out. How will food be transported and grown – and how can it be made varied and tasty enough?

“Astronauts return undernourished even after relatively short missions on the ISS. This will, of course, become a much bigger problem when we travel to Mars,” Blomqvist says.

Space is vast, dark and cold – but above all, food is in very short supply there. As soon as we humans leave the planet, we need to take provisions with us, and although these have evolved a lot since the 1960s – they are still pre-packaged. If NASA’s and the CNSA’s (China’s National Space Administration) plans for long-term human expeditions to both the Moon and Mars are to become a reality, the astronauts will need something to eat. 

And they will probably have to grow some of this food themselves.

Fortunately, clever people are trying to work out how this can be achieved. One of them is Tor Blomqvist, an industrial PhD student at KTH who works for the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) under the somewhat unusual title of ‘space agronomist’. 

“It’s not just about food as a product, but about creating an entire food system in space. That means you must consider all aspects relating to human beings as well, such as psychology. Because food is more than just nutrition. You can’t force-feed people disgusting food,” says Tor Blomqvist.

From Paris to SLU

Blomqvist trained as a food agronomist at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU). Before that, he worked as a chef for several years and moved to Paris when he was just 18. He takes good food very seriously and is keen to work on something exciting – a realisation that came after a couple of years at SLU.

“Am I going to sit here analysing pathogens in Falukorv for the rest of my life? That’s not going to happen. So, I panicked a bit, had a bit of a crisis, and started looking into what else I could do instead.”

Fortunately for him, Blomqvist discovered that agronomists could do more than just Falukorv research. Interpool, for example, needed people to combat the mafia’s large-scale food counterfeiting, and one day he came across an old article that really took his fancy – it was about space food. Despite some scepticism from the lecturers at SLU, Tor Blomqvist wrote both his bachelor’s and master’s theses on the subject.

Now, his overarching aim is to define what a food system in space might look like and to work out what is needed for people to be able to grow, eat and survive on longer space expeditions. If we were to go to Mars, for example, Blomqvist explains, NASA’s plan is for the astronauts to take all the food they will need with them. That amounts to a huge quantity of food. Then there are the problems posed by radioactive radiation, which spoils the food. Furthermore, it must remain edible for the entire journey there and back. 

“How do we make the food last for five years, and how can we ensure there’s enough variety so we don’t get bored after three days,” Blomqvist asks. “Those are the fundamental problems with packaged food. Then there’s the food we intend to produce. How do we create an autonomous food system.”

Farming on the Moon

We know it’s possible to grow crops in space. Small-scale trials have been carried out on the International Space Station (ISS). The problem is doing it on a larger scale. Blomqvist believes this is something that must happen on the Moon if we are to venture further into space. This is where it gets complicated. 

“We won’t be taking soil with us; we’ll be growing crops using hydroponics or aeroponics. Either we’ll spray the roots with water and nutrients or place them in water or a nutrient solution.”

Experiments with various technical solutions are being carried out around the world. Among other things, the cultivation system must be compatible with the life support system (ECLSS), be able to operate autonomously if the space station is unmanned for periods, and it must be possible to set it up quickly and easily. It must also be compatible with other aspects of the food system, such as storage, handling and cooking. The crops must also be safe to eat, and nothing can be thrown away.

“We’re primarily working on plant production modules and trying to expand into a broader systems approach to the food supply system,” Blomqvist says.

Small world

There is not that many people conducting research specifically about food in space, but there are a couple of research groups in Europe and Canada. NASA in the US is the largest, and China is also conducting research, though it is difficult to gain any insight into it. According to Blomqvist, one problem facing the field is that many research groups are very focused on their own solutions. He believes the problems must be solved through international cooperation. 

Together with a few other researchers and people working in the space sector, he has set up an organisation called The Deep Space Food Consortium . The aim is to coordinate the emerging space food ecosystem and bring together researchers, space organisations, food companies, technology developers, funders and partners in the public sector. 

“We need to get people to step out of their silos and start working together, creating our research agendas jointly and in collaboration with the food sector here on Earth.”

Text: Jon Lindhe