Innovative Food Packaging Techniques for Space Exploration: Ensuring Safety and Sustainability

Abstract

Food packaging in space missions is a challenge because of the specific needs of the food by the explorers as they go through long distances in space. The scope of this review paper is, therefore, aimed to discuss recent advances in specific food packaging practices for space missions based on the materials, technologies, and methodologies in coping with environmental and technological challenges of space. That enables this paper to elaborate on other contemporary packaging materials, like biodegradable polymers and edible films, which are both biodegradable and protective of goods against the space environment. In addition, it assesses smart packaging systems for foods, which can trace the quality and contamination of food items and technologies such as vacuum packaging and modified atmospheric packaging for longevity. Based on the review of the literature on current research, issues, and future developments, this paper identifies theoretical and practical implications of the multisource approach to designing safe, sustainable, and high-performance packaging for space food. The study also reports specific research gaps and offers possible trends for future developments regarding this central feature of space mission planning.