MELiSSA Space Research Program

For more than 30 years, The European Space Agency (i.e. ESA) is active in the development of regenerative life support system. 
MELiSSA (Micro-Ecological Life Support System Alternative) is the European project of closed life support system. It was established to gain knowledge on regenerative system, aiming to the highest degree of autonomy and consequently to produce food, water and oxygen from mission wastes. 

In space, the survival of astronauts requires very large masses of oxygen, water and food, which are too expensive and bulky to be transported. For future missions, beyond Low Earth Orbit, it is even not safe to rely on Earth resupply only.

How can we manage to recycle carbon dioxide and organic waste into food, oxygen and water?  

It is precisely to answer this question that the MELiSSA project has been initiated.