The most expensive salad in the solar system is the one you have to launch from Earth. Next Planet Inc, a Canadian startup, is betting it can grow a better one, along with the protein and oxygen, in a box the size of a commercial refrigerator. Its CANgrow system, a winner of the 2024 NASA and Canadian Space Agency Deep Space Food Challenge, is a bioregenerative loop designed to turn astronaut waste and limited inputs into fresh food, clean water, and breathable air [Next Planet, retrieved 2026]. The company’s initial wedge is as niche as it gets: feeding crews on the first missions to Mars. But the unit economics, they claim, are already compelling.
The Protein Math of Deep Space
Next Planet’s technical differentiation hinges on fungal protein. The company claims its bioreactors deliver a 20x higher yield per liter than cyanobacteria-based systems and produce four times the protein per kilogram of inputs compared to aquaculture [Next Planet, retrieved 2026]. Fungi, the company notes, contain about 66% protein and all nine essential amino acids. This efficiency is the core of their stated cost advantage: the CANgrow prototype has demonstrated production of the fresh food required by four astronauts at a cost 66% less than existing technology [Next Planet, retrieved 2026]. For a mission where every kilogram launched costs tens of thousands of dollars, that kind of saving isn’t just about better nutrition. It’s about mission feasibility.
The system itself is a closed-loop package. It combines fungal bioreactors with plant growth, water recycling, and waste processing, aiming to mimic a tiny, resilient ecosystem. The terrestrial analogs are obvious: remote military outposts, mining camps, or disaster relief. But the company is starting at the hardest possible edge, where the constraints are absolute and the customers have the longest procurement cycles. They’ve already converted their 2024 challenge win into their first revenue: multiple contracts with the Canadian Space Agency [Next Planet Team, retrieved 2026] [CanadaBuys, retrieved 2026].
A Team Built for the Long Haul
The founders, described collectively as scientists, farmers, engineers, and entrepreneurs, bring a track record of commercializing complex hardware. According to the company, they have previously raised $50 million, secured 80 patents, and launched over 40 product lines across prior businesses [Next Planet Team, retrieved 2026]. This suggests a team less likely to be starry-eyed about the romance of space and more focused on the grind of qualifying hardware, navigating government contracts, and hitting production timelines.
Their roadmap is audaciously specific. The company is targeting commercial-system sales in 2027 and expects to be specified for the first Mars mission in 2030 [Next Planet Team, retrieved 2026]. This isn’t a vague vision; it’s a countdown clock. The risks here are the classic deeptech hurdles:
- The qualification gauntlet. Space-grade hardware must survive brutal vibration, radiation, and years of reliable operation. A prize-winning prototype is miles from a flight-certified system.
- The earthly pivot. While the space market validates the technology, the path to volume and scale likely runs through terrestrial markets with different customers and price pressures.
- The funding mystery. The company claims a prior $50 million in fundraising across the founders’ careers, but no specific round for Next Planet is publicly detailed. Building and qualifying hardware for Mars is a capital-intensive race.
The back-of-the-envelope calculation is simple but telling. If a future mission needs to sustain a crew of four for three years, the mass of shipped food could easily run into tons. Cutting that shipped mass by two-thirds doesn’t just save money, it could free up payload for other critical science or equipment. That’s the real product: not just calories, but delta-v.
For Next Planet to succeed, it must eventually beat the incumbent, which isn’t another startup, but the entire global supply chain of freeze-dried meals and resupply rockets. Their bet is that a closed, biological loop in a box will prove lighter, cheaper, and more sustainable than the old way of throwing more cans into the void. It’s a very old idea for living off the land, applied to the newest frontier.
Sources
- [Next Planet, retrieved 2026] Next Planet Inc Homepage | https://www.nextplanet.tech/
- [Next Planet Team, retrieved 2026] Next Planet Inc Team Page | https://www.nextplanet.tech/team
- [CanadaBuys, retrieved 2026] Next Planet Technology | CanadaBuys | https://canadabuys.canada.ca/en/node/preview/1374160