The plan will create a growth chamber with imaging capabilities as well as technology that can use “machine vision algorithms” to detect the health of the plants.
So-called space crops are considered a vital food source for future missions to Mars, which could take around four years or a permanent human presence on the moon.
The iLAuNCH trailblazer is a partnership between academic institutions and more than 20 industry partners that aims to accelerate the development of the space manufacturing sector. Since its inception in 2022, it has already helped scores of projects.
The latest project is a partnership between the University of Southern Queensland and Axiom Space, the company best known for private space missions and a plan to build a new space station. It will also include space laboratory company Yuri Gravity, local firm Medicinal Harvest, and the University of Adelaide.
“Machine vision technology offers enormous potential for plant health monitoring, providing a scalable, automated solution for both space-based food production and terrestrial farming systems,” said iLAuNCH.
“The project’s objectives include: Integrating machine vision with a space-ready plant chamber; capturing images to monitor plant biology and growth in microgravity; demonstrating early detection of plant health issues using machine vision; and evaluating the technology’s scalability for commercial CEA applications on Earth.”
It’s hoped the research could also have practical applications on Earth that could be commercialised and comes after an earlier iteration of the project received a grant from the UK and Australian governments.
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The ‘Autonomous Agriculture for Space Exploration initiative’ examined “vertical farming technologies” that allow plants to survive longer and grow well in space.
Tracey Perez, a Medicinal Harvest director, said: “Collaborating with iLAuNCH and UniSQ, alongside esteemed industry partners, provides an incredible opportunity to trial predictive AI in our medicinal cannabis facility.
“The insights gained from this facility have broad applications across controlled environment agriculture, as the core principle remains the same.
“At the end of the day, we are cultivating plants, and optimising their growth is key to the future of agriculture, both in space and on Earth.”
In November, Space Connect reported how a separate scheme to study if plants could survive on the moon had secured a spot on a lunar landing mission.
Lunaria One’s payload will contain seeds and plants and their progress will be compared against controlled experiments undertaken by students and regular citizens on Earth.
The Australian Lunar Experiment Promoting Horticulture (ALEPH) will travel on Intuitive Machines’ third mission, IM-3, while the project itself has already been backed by a $3.6 million grant from the Australian Space Agency.
However, Intuitive’s last mission, IM-2, failed days after the lander touched down on its side.
Adam Thorn
Adam is a journalist who has worked for more than 40 prestigious media brands in the UK and Australia. Since 2005, his varied career has included stints as a reporter, copy editor, feature writer and editor for publications as diverse as Fleet Street newspaper The Sunday Times, fashion bible Jones, media and marketing website Mumbrella as well as lifestyle magazines such as GQ, Woman’s Weekly, Men’s Health and Loaded. He joined Momentum Media in early 2020 and currently writes for Australian Aviation and World of Aviation.
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