Solar Foods makes progress in space business

Translation: Original published in Finnish on 11/4/2025 at 7:30 am EET.

Solar Foods is taking a step towards the space business by collaborating with the European Space Agency (ESA) and OHB System AG. In our view, this news is positive and brings more concrete progress to the potentially capital-light space business. While the project's direct economic impact is expected to be insignificant in the short term, it will bolster the credibility of hydrogen fermentation technology and raise the profile of Solein, which will also support the company's core business.

Concrete steps for developing the space business

Solar Foods announced on Monday that it had signed a contract with OHB System AG, a European space and technology company. OHB will contribute expertise in flying experiments in space to the project, among other things. The collaboration aims to develop and test Solein® production technology onboard the International Space Station (ISS). The project follows a previous successful technology development project with the European Space Agency (ESA), which is funding this new project as well.

This is encouraging news, as a year ago, the company won NASA's Deep Space Food Challenge and was in talks with several space operators about cooperation. Since then, there has been little news about developments in the space business, but yesterday's press release provided much-needed concrete information about the progress of this business. We have previously described the space business as an interesting growth option in Solar Foods' investment story, offering high profitability potential and low capital requirements. Solein production technology could offer attractive added value to commercial space habitat operators because producing Solein on space missions would reduce resupply needs of food and water while providing a fresh source of protein. We view the participation of as many as five contractors from the European space industry in ESA's tender (in which Solar Foods was selected as a mandatory subcontractor) as a positive sign, as it indicates widespread interest in Solar Foods' technology.

Capital-light growth option

Although the foundation of Solar Foods' investment case remains the successful financing and commercialization of the industrial-scale Factory 02, the space business presents an appealing parallel opportunity. Since ESA is funding the project, we estimate that it will not tie up Solar Foods' own capital, which is needed to scale the core business.

The project has a long timeline, and potential financial benefits will only materialize in the distant future. While the company's vision of Solein becoming a mainstay for space explorers by 2035 is quite ambitious, Monday's news is a step in the right direction. In the short term, the project's main advantage is the brand benefit and visibility it creates for Solein. Success in space would strongly validate the technology's functionality and reliability, which could also support negotiations with food industry partners. While the news is positive and supports the long-term investment story, its economic impact is far in the future. Therefore, this news does not cause any changes to our estimates.