Chinese astronauts’ space meals are just too good! Made by a culinary superpower—no worse than what they eat on Earth.

Jing Haipeng enjoyed a specially crafted cheese cake for his 50th birthday in space—a luxury experience nearly unheard of in Western space missions, where astronauts still rely on compressed food while Chinese taikonauts have already elevated birthday celebrations to the fullest. Taste of Home, Even in Orbit During traditional festivals, the space station’s food cabinet is always stocked with ceremonial, limited-edition delicacies: dumplings for Spring Festival, mooncakes for Mid-Autumn Festival, and zongzi for Dragon Boat Festival. The core philosophy behind China’s space food is to let astronauts savor the ‘taste of home’ even in microgravity. Accounting for regional dietary preferences, the menu features Cantonese-style barbecued chicken and burdock-carrot dishes beloved by southerners, as well as Henan-style braised noodles and red-braised pork chops favored by northerners. Soups are equally refined—seaweed soup, spinach soup, wakame soup, and tomato-and-egg drop soup rotate regularly, complemented by digestive teas and a stomach-warming herbal beverage—truly a holistic, traditional Chinese health regimen. To faithfully replicate terrestrial textures, researchers invested extraordinary effort: dehydrated rice undergoes a proprietary process to retain fluffiness, yielding distinct, separate grains upon rehydration; spicy-sichuan-style dried tofu undergoes multiple sterilization steps—preserving its bold aroma and heat while preventing crumb dispersion in microgravity; even tea gets bespoke treatment—each 2-gram tea bag yields four to five infusions, whether rich black tea or fragrant green tea. Jing Haipeng once revealed, “I brew tea every day,” adding a touch of earthly comfort and everyday warmth to life in orbit. High-Tech Support for Elegant Dining Eating in space is no simple feat—and China’s aerospace team has deployed cutting-edge technology to overcome each challenge. To prevent food particles from floating freely in microgravity, engineers developed a multifunctional dining table platform that secures utensils and doubles as a workstation, enabling astronauts to hold their plates and dine just like on Earth. Rehydration technology proves pivotal: using specially designed water pouches, dehydrated foods regain freshness within minutes—freeze-dried vegetables, for instance, recover their original color and retain over 80% of their nutrients after rehydration. The heating unit is nothing short of a ‘space kitchen marvel’: the food heater aboard Shenzhou-11 precisely controls temperature, restoring dishes like fried rice and noodle soup to their earthly texture—and even producing crystal-clear tea infusions. To optimize taste perception in microgravity, space food seasoning is intentionally bolder: the spiciness of spicy pork is increased by 30%, and pickled vegetables deliver richer saltiness and aroma—ensuring taste buds remain fully awakened.

Revealed! The space station astronauts’ breakfast includes this soy milk.

On May 24, 2026, the Shenzhou-23 manned spacecraft successfully launched, carrying astronauts Zhu Yangzhu, Zhang Zhiyuan, and Li Jiaying to China’s space station. As part of this mission, one astronaut will conduct a year-long in-orbit residency experiment—the first time a Chinese astronaut will remain continuously aboard the station for a full year. Living in the complex space environment for an entire year raises one fundamental yet critical question: How can we ensure these space pioneers eat well, drink well, and maintain both physical and mental health? Behind this question stands a national brand—Joyoung. From Ground to Orbit: An Eight-Year Journey for One Cup of Soy Milk In 2014, Joyoung officially became a developer of the ‘space kitchen.’ Making meals and beverages truly enjoyable in space is no easy task! There’s no air convection to dissipate heat; in microgravity, liquids and food refuse to stay put in containers; the enclosed cabin demands ultra-high cleanliness—any bacteria or odor becomes magnified. More critically, equipment aboard the spacecraft must produce zero carbon dust, which would otherwise contaminate the entire cabin environment. Joyoung’s engineers spent eight full years systematically tackling these challenges. Today, astronauts can enjoy steaming-hot, star-rated customized space meals—including fish-flavored shreds and Kung Pao chicken—in just thirty minutes—and even treat themselves anytime to a rich, aromatic cup of space soy milk.

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