Merritt Island-based Interstellar Labs was awarded the Grand Prize and $750,000 for its entry into NASA and the Canadian Space Agency’s “Deep Space Food Challenge,” in which competitors created unique food production technologies for long-duration crewed exploration missions.

In a release announcing the reward, Angela Herblet, Centennial Challenges Challenge Manager at NASA, and the manager for the Deep Space Food Challenge at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, said, “The Deep Space Food Challenge could serve as the framework for providing astronauts with healthy and delicious food using sustainable mechanisms. The challenge has brought together innovative and driven individuals from around the world who are passionate about creating new solutions that support our agency’s future Moon to Mars missions.”

Previously: NASA and Canadian Space Agency’s “Deep Space Food Challenge” Enters Final Phase of Competition

NASA and the Canadian Space Agency conducted the competition for companies to provide nutritious and tasty food for astronauts on long-term missions. The competition was narrowed to five finalists on the American side, with three additional internationally-based competitors rounding out the field. Called the Deep Space Food Challenge, the goal of this competition was to generate novel food production technologies or systems that require minimal resources and produce minimal waste while creating items or cuisine that are actually appealing to the crew.

The challenge concluded at the Deep Space Food Symposium, a two-day networking and learning summit at the Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center in Coloumbus, Ohio on August 15th and 16th this year.

Throughout the event, attendees met the Phase 3 finalists, witnessed demonstrations of the food production technologies, and attended panels featuring experts from NASA, government, industry, and academia. The winners of the challenge were announced at an awards ceremony at the end of the symposium.

Led by Interstellar’s Labs Founder and CEO, Barbara Belvisi, the small business combined several autonomous phytotrons and environment-controlled greenhouses to support a growth system involving a self-sustaining food production mechanism that generates fresh vegetables, microgreens, and insects necessary for micronutrients.

Previously: Interstellar Lab Plans To Grow Roses On The Moon

Two other American and one international competitor were also awarded prizes: Nolux of Riverside, California, and SATED of Boulder, Colorado, each received $250,000 for their entries, and Solar Foods of Lappeenranta, Finland, also won an award.

“Congratulations to the winners and all the finalist teams for their many years dedicated to innovating solutions for the Deep Space Food Challenge,” said Amy Kaminski, program executive for NASA’s Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “These food production technologies could change the future of food accessibility on other worlds and our home planet.”