Space-brewed sake snapped up for £517k
A bottle of Japanese sake made using space-fermented mash has fetched almost ¥110 million (£517,000), and things are still looking stellar for its producer, Dassai, which now has its sights set on making the drink on the moon.
In partnership with engineering firm Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Yamaguchi Prefecture-based sake brewer Dassai sent brewing equipment, along with sake ingredients koji and rice, to the International Space Station (ISS) abroad the HTV-XI resupply spacecraft launched from the Tanegashima Space Centre in southern Kyushu, Japan.
Astronauts then conducted the brewing process in space, through installing the equipment and adding water to initiate fermentation. In February, the fermenting mash, called moromi, returned to Earth.
It was transported back to Japan from the United States, before being refined into 116 millilitres of sake the following month.
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The drink was packaged in a 100-millititre bottle and was sold to an anonymous buyer for around ¥110 million (around £517,000), while the remaining 16 millilitres were roped off for tasting.
Over the moon
“It has a distinct acidity. The flavour is well-balanced and rich,” a Dassai spokesperson told AFP.
The proceeds from the sale will be donated to Japan’s space development efforts, and the company said it would work with Tohoku University to analyse the sake lees and other by-products.
According to the companies, the experiment demonstrates that sake production is possible even under lunar gravity conditions using a process similar to that on Earth.
Looking to the future, the producer plans to build a sake brewery on the moon by 2050, aiming to contribute to improving quality of life in future lunar settlements.
The two companies have been working on the Dassai Moon Project since 2024.
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