Sustainable Food Systems for Astronauts and Associated Risks in Long-Duration Space Missions: A Narrative Review

The success of Long-duration human space missions depends not only on advanced spacecraft engineering and life-support technologies but also on resilient food systems that can sustain astronauts’ health and performance throughout the mission. As space agencies prepare for permanent lunar habitats and crewed missions to Mars, food systems have become a critical component of mission success. Future exploration-class missions are expected to last three to five years, during which resupply of food from Earth will be limited or unavailable. Consequently, conventional pre-packaged foods must evolve into sustainable, integrated systems that ensure nutritional adequacy, food safety, and psychological well-being under resource-constrained environments. This narrative review synthesises current evidence on the evolution of space food technologies, shelf-life limitations, nutrient stability, and the effects of microgravity and space radiation on food quality. It further examines emerging preservation strategies, including active and intelligent packaging, microencapsulation, controlled-environment agriculture, precision fermentation, and bioregenerative life-support systems, as sustainable solutions for future deep-space missions. The review also highlights the major risks associated with prolonged food storage, including nutrient degradation, microbial contamination, and reduced sensory quality. It discusses innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence, synthetic biology, and 3D food printing that may improve the resilience of food systems. Collectively, these advances provide a framework for developing safe, nutritious, and sustainable food systems that support long-duration human exploration while offering valuable applications for terrestrial food security and climate-resilient agriculture.