Newswise — HARRISBURG, PA – The future of space exploration is currently hampered by humankind’s ability to sustainably provide nutrition, environmental control, and life support for long-duration human spaceflight. NASA’s Biology & Physical Sciences Division outlined these gaps in a 2024 report entitled, A New Era in Space: Ensuring the Future of Biological and Physical Sciences Research: A Decadal Survey for 2023–2032. Additionally, “Food and Nutrition for Mars and Sustained Lunar” was listed as the 23rd highest priority item in NASA’s Civil Space Shortfall Ranking.

Bioregenerative life support systems (BLSS) – closed-loop systems that use living organisms to produce food, recycle water, and regenerate air – are a potential answer to these gaps. Aquaculture – the cultivation of aquatic organisms such as finfish, algae, or mollusks – could be a critical component of these life-support systems. A related approach, aquaponics, integrates aquaculture with hydroponics – the practice of growing plants in water rather than soil – to create systems where plants and aquatic organisms sustain one another.

Why Oysters for Aquaponics?

Among aquaculture candidates, oysters are especially promising for both terrestrial and space nutrition systems. They offer sustainable food security, provide natural water filtration, and have been a food source for humans for over 100,000 years based on archaeological findings.

“Oysters, and other filter feeders, build on the established science behind aquaponics, reinventing the concept for a bold future where more humans live and work off-planet,” said Jacob Scoccimerra, Founder of Monolith LLC. “Oysters could provide additional benefits beyond finfish in off-planet aquaponics systems because they are filter feeders that require no external feed, instead thriving on algae or microorganisms. They naturally clean and recycle water, reducing the need for complex filtration systems and maintenance. Oysters also produce nutrient-rich byproducts that can support plant growth, and their hardy physiology makes them more resilient to variations in water quality than many fish species.”

Student-Led Prototype Development

Students from Harrisburg University of Science and Technology (HU) have been hard at work assisting Monolith LLC in designing an automated, closed-loop aquaculture system to grow and study marine organisms that may be beneficial candidates for space nutrition and research. Students utilized Autodesk Fusion 360 computer-aided design (CAD) software, Phoenix Contact products, and subject matter expertise from within the space industry.

The focus of the initial prototype is oysters, with students rapidly prototyping a habitat that ensures the survival of oyster spat (baby oysters) and feeds them through their juvenile and adult stages.

“Being involved in this funded research project provided me with a practical opportunity, allowing me to apply my 3D design expertise through modeling an automated oyster habitat,” said Alexander Hang, an Advanced Manufacturing (ADMA) major at Harrisburg University. “Furthermore, it has expanded my understanding of food security and my potential contributions to its future advancements.”

Logan Trimmer, another ADMA major at Harrisburg University, added: “This research project helped me have a structured job that provided me a way to connect to multiple industry professionals in various fields. It also adds a layer of responsibility and accountability to managing my time to ensure that I am making progress towards the end goal of having an automated system.”

A Multidisciplinary Experience

For this project, Monolith LLC won a grant from Keystone Space Collaborative (a PA-based nonprofit) to develop a prototype space aquaculture research facility. Monolith selected HU’s student team to carry out the prototyping work.

Through this funded collaboration with Monolith, HU undergraduate students were immersed in a multidisciplinary research environment that mirrors the expectations of the aerospace and advanced manufacturing industries. Students collaborated directly with Monolith and engaged with NASA subject matter experts to better understand the scientific and engineering challenges of designing bioregenerative life support systems.

HU Environmental Science students focused on oyster biology, water quality management, and system ecology, while Advanced Manufacturing students translated those biological requirements into manufacturable, automated system components using industry-standard CAD tools and controls platforms.

Beyond technical skill development, students gained professional competencies essential to the modern workforce, including presenting technical concepts to industry partners and university leadership, translating scientific requirements into engineering specifications, documenting design decisions for stakeholder review, working within multidisciplinary teams with defined roles and deliverables, and iterating prototypes based on structured feedback.

This experience positioned students not simply as learners, but as early-career professionals contributing to an emerging space-based food systems industry.

What’s Next?

The project was funded by Monolith LLC through a grant from the Keystone Space Collaborative Innovation Challenge and will continue to involve Harrisburg University Advanced Manufacturing and Environmental Science students. Future design refinements will align with NASA’s Payloads Interface Requirements, with both the International Space Station (ISS) and other commercial space stations as potential orbital candidates for deployment and space aquaculture research.

On Wednesday, April 8, Harrisburg University and Monolith LLC hosted a prototype demonstration and advanced manufacturing lab tour featuring students involved with the project. You can see photos from the presentation above.

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ABOUT MONOLITH LLC

Monolith LLC is focused on developing spaceflight hardware, educational experiences, mission management, and research opportunities in space. The Monolith team features experts in spaceflight mission management, having launched and operated a variety of payloads to the International Space Station and other platforms.  For information about Monolith LLC, call or email Jacob Scoccimerra at 724.664.2548 or jscoccimerra@monolithspace.com. Stay up to date on this project and others by following Monolith LLC on LinkedIn and joining the newsletter.

ABOUT HARRISBURG UNIVERSITY

Harrisburg University of Science & Technology (HU) is an independent, nonprofit university offering degrees in advanced manufacturing, engineering, robotics, nursing, cybersecurity, and other critical fields. Accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, HU serves a diverse student body through bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral programs that link learning and research with practical applications. For information about HU’s affordable STEM degrees and professional development programs, call 717.901.5146 or email Connect@HarrisburgU.edu. Stay in the know by following Harrisburg University on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook.

MEDIA CONTACT

Do you have questions about this story? Interested in lining up an interview? Please contact Dan Wilhelm, Communications Manager for Harrisburg University of Science & Technology, at DWilhelm@HarrisburgU.edu or 717.901.5100×1724. # # #