Japanese brewer Dassai and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries confirmed alcohol fermentation is possible under simulated lunar gravity
Credit: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
A single 100-milliliter bottle of sake — brewed using mash fermented aboard the International Space Station — fetched 110 million yen, equivalent to roughly $700,000, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries said, with the revenue earmarked for Japan's space development efforts.
This sale marks the end of the first mission of the "Dassai MOON Project." The sake maker and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries started this joint effort in 2024, with the goal of eventually brewing sake on the Moon.
In October 2025, brewing equipment and raw sake ingredients were sent to the Japanese experiment module "Kibo" on the ISS using Japan's H3 rocket and the new HTV-X1 resupply vehicle. Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui ran the fermentation experiment for two weeks starting November 25, 2025, using conditions meant to mimic lunar gravity.
The experiment produced about 260 grams of mash with 12% alcohol, showing that sake can ferment under lunar-gravity conditions. Data from orbit also showed that fermentation happened more slowly than on Earth, which suggests gravity affects the process, according to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
The mash was frozen on the ISS in December 2025 and brought back to Earth in February 2026, with samples collected in Los Angeles. It arrived at Dassai's main brewery in Iwakuni, Japan, on March 13, and the sake was finished on March 24. After processing, the mash produced 116 milliliters of sake. Of that, 100 milliliters were sealed in a titanium bottle and bought by an unidentified buyer in Japan, The Korea Times reported.
Analysis of the leftover sake lees is planned in partnership with the Higashitani Laboratory at Tohoku University, where researchers will examine the fermentation byproduct's chemical makeup and look for signs of genetic change in yeast exposed to space conditions, Dassai and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries said.
The project received support from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, as well as several Japanese companies and organizations including Manned Space Systems Co., Space BD, DigitalBlast, and Nippon Express.
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