China's first-ever multi-generational space rice research has taken a new step toward humans' ability to fully grow food in orbit, with the Shenzhou-23 crew completing another round of sample collection, sowing, and storage aboard the Tiangong space station.
The research project aims to study the molecular mechanisms behind rice's multi-generational genetic stability and environmental adaptability in microgravity. Over the past week, the three astronauts collected a new batch of samples, which will be returned to Earth for scientists to analyze at the phenotypic and molecular levels, helping reveal how long-term microgravity affects rice genetic stability.
China's space rice research began in 2022, when the Shenzhou-14 crew conducted the world's first full life-cycle rice cultivation experiment in space. During that mission, six rice seeds were grown aboard Tiangong for 120 days, producing 59 first-generation space-grown seeds that the crew returned to Earth.
On May 24 this year, the Shenzhou-23 spacecraft carried a new batch of rice seeds into orbit. The seeds fall into two groups: ordinary seeds that have never left Earth, and third-generation descendants bred on the ground from the 59 space-grown seeds harvested in 2022. Both are Chinese japonica varieties known for their adaptability and three- to four-month growing cycle.
After more than four months in orbit, the Shenzhou-23 crew has reached the first harvest and begun second-generation cultivation using two propagation methods. The aim is to compare how space-flown and Earth-grown rice adapt to space, and to explore how different propagation methods affect second-generation space rice.
The second-generation space rice is expected to mature during the Shenzhou-24 mission, scheduled for later this year.
While the 2022 experiment covered a full life cycle "from ground seed to space seed," this year's research advances to "from ground seed to space seed to space seed" -- a repeating cycle that researchers hope could provide important theoretical support for in-situ crop production beyond Earth -- the ability to grow food in space without relying on resupply from Earth. Such a capability is considered essential for humanity's future exploration of deep space.
China's multi-generational space rice research advances toward growing food in orbit
