Overview
- The European Space Agency has convened a team of food scientists, entomologists, biologists and engineers and published the report Insects On The Space Menu.
- Upcoming investigations are designed to breed insects in orbit and to measure full life cycles, reproduction, health and nutritional quality in microgravity.
- A 2025 Frontiers in Physiology study led by Åsa Berggren concludes that insects cope well in space, with development and reproduction largely unaffected.
- Candidate species include house crickets and yellow mealworms, which the European Food Safety Authority approved for human consumption in 2023.
- Background work ranges from NASA’s Fruit Fly Lab on the ISS to Samantha Cristoforetti’s 2022 cricket‑flour snack trial, while insects offer dense protein from minimal resources and waste streams.