Mission: Space Food

Our Story

Mission: Space Food is a consortium of space, food and technology experts creating an integrative approach to human nutrition in space.

Powered by Aleph Farm’s technology platform and Astrea’s culinary and engineering expertise, we design new space foods to help astronauts thrive in space.

Mission: Space Food engineers food products and production systems that redefine the multisensory pleasure of food in space and create infrastructure for deep-space exploration.

What We Do

Access to fresh food is a key obstacle to deep space exploration and human colonization. It limits how far away from Earth we can travel and how long we can stay in space while also impacting the astronaut's mental and physiological health.

By re-imagining astronaut food on the ISS, Mission: Space Food creates sustainable, hedonic eating experiences to address the public health and ecological constraints on earth, seeding the eating rituals and flavours for centuries to come.

Our Team

Shahreen Reza

CEO

bio

Shahreen Reza is the Founder of Mission: Space Food. Her first start-up, PurifAid, developed cleantech using the byproduct of Scotch Whisky to decontaminate industrially polluted water in Europe, and brought it to the villages of Bangladesh to tackle the arsenic water crisis through adsorption technology. After her company was acquired, she worked as Deputy Head of Global Business for Palantir Technologies, a Silicon Valley start-up focused on big data integration.

She studied Finance & Strategy in Sciences-Po, Paris, and holds an MPhil in Counter-Terrorism and Security from the University of Cambridge, and a Bachelors in Philosophy, Russian Literature, and Politics from Trinity College, University of Toronto. Shahreen trained at Cordon Bleu, Paris and apprenticed at a Michelin Star restaurant in California, and the iconic French bistro, Chez Marcel, in Paris.

If I could bring one food to Mars, it would be?

Dumplings!

I love all kinds of dumplings, whether it’s soup dumplings, buff momos, pierogies, matzo balls, empanadas or samosas.

According to Max Falkowitz, of the Dumpling Galaxy:

We can argue about the mechanics, but what does a dumpling make us feel? Dumplings are about condensing delight. It's about combining a lot of flavors and textures in one bite or two.

Pascal Rosenfeld

Deputy VP Space and New Ventures at Aleph Farms

bio

Pascal is Deputy VP for Space & New Ventures activities & partnerships programs at Aleph Farms. Pascal holds an MBA from ESCP Europe and has over 20 years experience in strategic partnerships, finance, private equity & venture projects in various sectors including aerospace & food security. A lifelong Environmentalist, he believes Aleph Farms is one of the most powerful levers on Earth to lower our carbon footprint + wisely reduce the use of natural resources, all that while enjoying delicious and more nutritious food.

What is the price of a nice steak dinner on Mars?

"Anyone who thinks that you can have infinite growth in a finite environment is either a madman or an economist." - Sir David ATTENBOROUGH

Expect your average meal on the Moon or Mars to cost around $1 million (R&D, shipping, forensics and conservation costs). At such a price, it better be delicious!

Neta Lavon

CTO and VP R&D at Aleph Farms

bio

Dr. Neta Lavon is the CTO and VP R&D at Aleph Farms. She oversees research, development and the scaling of the company's innovative technology platforms. With over 20 years of experience, Dr. Lavon is an expert in stem cell applications in biotechnology, specializing in the commercialization of emerging technologies for industrial utilization. Prior to Aleph Farms, she was COO of the biotech company Kadimastem, where she developed cell therapy products for ALS and diabetes patients. She has also worked as a researcher at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles where she established 25 novel pluripotent stem cell lines. Dr. Lavon holds a PhD in Genetics, an M.Sc. in Biotechnology and a B.Sc. in Food Sciences from the Hebrew University in Israel.

If I could bring one food to Mars, it would be?

My mom's schnitzel!

Why space?

I'm passionate about space because it is without boundaries and as such belongs to all mankind.

Aaron Persad, PhD

CTO at Astreas

bio

Dr. Aaron Persad is co-founder of Mission: Space Food and CTO of its Astreas arm. He has over 20 years of experience in space science research and spaceflight technology development with degrees from the University of Toronto in Engineering Science and Biomedical Engineering (BASc), Mechanical and Industrial Engineering (PhD). Dr. Persad is currently a Research Scientist in Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he is developing nanotechnologies for purification, dialysis treatment, and fusion reactors. He brings his expertise on human spaceflight to the MSF team and helps develop specialized manufacturing technologies for the company.

View Entire Team

Contact Us

hello@missionspacefood.com