Moon fish: European team plans first off-world hatchery.
A European research team is preparing to send fertilised fish eggs into orbit as part of a closed-loop aquaculture experiment that could form the basis of food production on future lunar missions — and potentially reshape thinking around extreme RAS environments on Earth.
The initiative, known as Lunar Hatch, is being led by Dr Cyrille Przybyla of France’s National Institute for Ocean Research, with support from the French space agency CNES. The project has been in development for nearly a decade and is designed to test whether fish can be hatched, reared, and recycled in a self-contained aquaculture system using only local water sources and biological waste conversion.
According to The Guardian (28 April 2025), the aim is to establish an autonomous, waste-free system on the moon that can support a protein supply for astronauts over four to five months — using water extracted from lunar ice, algae cultivated from fish effluent, and invertebrates to convert waste back into feed inputs.
The species chosen for the first trial: sea bass.
Roughly 200 fertilised eggs will be sent into space at the embryonic stage, with hatching timed to occur during transit to the International Space Station. A control group of siblings will remain on Earth for comparison. If successful, the technology could be adapted for use in isolated terrestrial communities and even future Mars missions.
“What we have done is converted a system we have been working on for the Earth to the moon,” says Przybyla. “On Earth, this recycled circular loop aquaculture is important not only for preservation of the environment but also for economic durability. The same principle that applies for the moon could be used to feed isolated communities.”
Though not salmon, the sea bass trial underscores the expanding frontier of recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) design. It comes at a time when industry actors are increasingly exploring more energy-efficient, closed-containment solutions — both for biosecurity and for deployment in challenging or unconventional environments.
As Przybyla told The Guardian, “Fish is an excellent source of protein because it is the animal organism that we digest the best… The aim of Lunar Hatch is to have no waste. Everything is recycled.”
While no launch date has yet been announced, the team says all ground-based simulations are complete and the programme is awaiting assignment to a future space mission.