EDEN ISS underway
A new project is underway under the European Union‘s Research and Innovation Action program Horizon 2020, within the topic of ‘Space exploration / Life support.’ Thirteen international organizations, including universities, corporations and small businesses, in the cross-disciplinary fields of food growth, life support, engineering and design come together in taking one step further towards the independent exploration in worlds unknown such as the Moon or Mars. During the four year project, they will collaboratively develop innovations in cultivating food in closed-loop systems.
EDEN ISS is a project focused on the ‘Ground Demonstration of Plant Cultivation Technologies and -Operation in Space’ and the enhancement of those technologies, ‘For Safe Food Production on-board the International Space Station (ISS) and Future Human Space Exploration Vehicles and Planetary Outposts.’
The consortium is led by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) Institute of Space Systems in Bremen, Germany and includes the following partners:
- DLR Institute of Aerospace Medicine in Cologne, Germany
- LIQUIFER Systems Group, Austria
- National Research Council, Italy
- University of Guelph, Canada
- Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Germany
- Enginsoft S.p.A., Italy
- Airbus Defense and Space, Germany
- Thales Alenia Space Italia S.p.A., Italy
- Aero Sekur S.p.A., Italy
- Wageningen University and Research, the Netherlands
- Heliospectra AB, Sweden
- Limerick Institute of Technology , Ireland
- Telespazio S.p.A., Italy
The overall goal of the EDEN ISS project is to further advance key controlled environment agriculture technologies beyond the state-of-the-art, including; an advanced nutrient delivery system, a high performance LED lighting system, a bio-detection and decontamination system and food quality and safety procedures and technologies.
