Expo Dubai: ENEA presents frontier technologies to support life in space

Innovative biotechnologies and frontier technologies to allow humans, plants, insects and bacteria to survive and recreate the cycle of life in space are some of the research and development activities in the field of Space economy ENEA presents at the Space Week (17-23 October) at Expo 2020 Dubai, the Universal Exposition hosted in the United Arab Emirates until 31 March 2022.

In particular, ENEA contributes with National and European projects aimed at creating space gardens in which to grow micro-vegetables, 'hi-tech greenhouses' inside special igloos designed to withstand the extreme temperatures of space, bioregenerative systems to recycle resources and energy on orbiting stations. All this in line with the general theme of the exhibition, titled "Connecting minds, generating the future".

At the International Exposition - the first global gathering after the most acute phase of the pandemic – ENEA presents the project VGELM  [1], which aims to create a hi-tech garden to grow micro-vegetables on the Moon and in extreme environments, inside a special 'igloo greenhouse' designed to withstand very low temperatures and equipped with advanced immersive virtual reality techniques.

The project is proof of ENEA's dedication to space bioeconomy, a sector in which  it’s leader, with its Biotechnology and Agroindustry Division,  thanks to a well-structured planning conducted over the years in collaboration with the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and other research institutions like the CNR, University of Naples Federico II and Sapienza University of Rome.

ENEA has conducted frontier multidisciplinary research in the field of biotechnologies for cutting-edge cultivation systems for many years, first with the project BIOxTREME [2] on plants response to spatial stress and then with the project HORTSPACE [3] for the development of a hydroponic cultivation prototype  in a controlled environment and the selection of varieties of "fortified" plants, the so-called "ideotypes", with greater resistance and resilience to an extreme environment like Space, then validated as part of a simulated Mars mission (AMADEE-18 mission [4]).

Among the most recent innovations ther’s GREENCUBE [5], a micro-vegetable garden that will be launched aboard a mini-satellite on the VEGA-C vector of the European Space Agency (ESA) to study the behavior of plants in the medium earth orbit, equipped with innovative technologies and advanced sensors for remote monitoring.

"This is an excellence technology to address one of the biggest issues on long-lasting space missions, that is the impossibility of relying on fresh food from the Earth to feed astronauts", pointed out Eugenio Benvenuto, head of the ENEA Biotechnology Laboratory. "In fact, if a paradigm shift towards a circular economy is urgent on Earth, it is imperative in space, where food, water and air have to be regenerated and recycled to guarantee the survival of crews."

"Plants are an important source of fresh food supply -they integrate pre-packaged food rations, provide essential vitamins, nutrients and minerals- and have the capability to renew precious resources like air, water and mineral nutrients and provide a psychological benefit to crew members ”, said Angiola Desiderio at the ENEA Biotechnology Laboratory.

In addition to food production, the challenge is also to recreate space "techno-ecosystems" to recycle energy and resources and an increasingly autonomous management of primary resources, like those of the project ReBUS [6]: artificial ecosystems based on the interaction among humans, plants and microorganisms, in which each biological component uses the waste products of the others’metabolism as a resource. In addition to water, even food residues, non-edible plant parts, wastewater, paper used for personal and environmental hygiene and plastics are precious components that, when suitably treated with innovative processes, can be "converted" into elements to be reinserted in the production cycle as plant growth fertilizers.

"The race for space exploration is a powerful accelerator for the development of technological solutions that find wide application on Earth and, in particular, soilless cultivation responds to the need to develop precision agriculture for a high quality, local production in cities and climatically contaminated and hostile environments likes deserts or polar areas ”, pointed out Luca Nardi at the ENEA Biotechnology Laboratory. "On the other hand - he said - the development of technologies for organic waste recycling is fully reflected in the growing interest in an increasingly efficient terrestrial circular economy, to cope with scarcity of resources, climate change and soil degradation".

According to ASI data [7], our country's space industry counts over 200 companies with excellent skills in upstream and downstream activities, 12 technology districts, an aerospace technology cluster, three industrial associations, startups and large companies exporting space technologies and complex systems. With an over 2 billion euro yearly turnover and 7,000 employees,  Italy is among the few countries in the world to have a complete national industrial chain with unique internationally recognized skills  -developed also thanks to a partnership between public research and sector companies- aimed at conducting human Space exploration.

For more information please contact:

Eugenio Benvenuto, ENEA – Head Biotechnologies Laboratory, eugenio.benvenuto@enea.it

[1] Space: Hi-tech garden to grow vegetables on the Moon and Poles

[2] Call for Tenders ASI-DTE-2011-033 - Contract ASI n. 2014-007-R.O (Commissioner’s Disposition 139/2014 COMM)

[3] Implementing Agreement with ASI, Provision n. 280/2017/PRES

[4] Space: A proving ground for a potential future veg garden on Mars

[5] Provision n. 67/2020/PRES - Innovation: All Italian the first micro-vegetable garden for space farming

[6] Det. 252/20219/SSPT-BIOAG - Space: Project ReBUS, research and industry ally to support human life on the Moon and Mars

[7] Catalogue “Italian Space Industry 2021-2022 by the Italian Space Agency, Agency for the promotion abroad and internationalization of Italian companies  (ICE), in collaboration with the National Associations AIAD, AIPAS e ASAS (https://www.asi.it/en/the-agency/information-resources/the-italian-space-industry-catalogue/)