Japanese company Asahi Shuzo is preparing to release sake brewed in space. The cost of one bottle will be 100 million yen, which is equivalent to 641 thousand USD, reports daily.afisha.ru with reference to Forbes.

The production involves the preparation of the wort on the International Space Station in collaboration with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and the Center for Industry, Science and IT Technologies. After the space stage is completed, the wort will be delivered back to Earth.

The space part of the project is planned for the end of 2025, and ground production - for the beginning of 2026. The company plans to release only one exclusive bottle of the drink.

The total cost of creation will be 900 thousand dollars. It is interesting to note that all proceeds from sales will be donated to charity - to organizations involved in the development of the space industry in Japan.

Asahi Shuzo President Kazuhiro Sakurai emphasized the experimental nature of the project. “We want to take the first step to confirm that sake brewing is possible in outer space. Our mindset is to try new things to see what we can do. If we fail, we will analyze the reasons and learn from them,” he said.

Sakurai drew attention to the potential peculiarities of fermentation in zero-gravity conditions. “On Earth, gravity creates natural convection inside the fermenting wort,” the businessman explained, pointing out possible differences in the process in space.

According to the plan, astronauts will initiate fermentation by adding water to a special device that will control the alcohol level and stir the wort to achieve the desired result.

Sakurai frankly acknowledged the scientific uncertainty of the experiment. “It is not yet known whether fermentation is possible in space. But it is precisely this uncertainty that is the source of our excitement,” the entrepreneur noted.