Make sure to catch the full podcast episode to hear all the reasoning behind the costs and decisions, potential suppliers, and a discussion on CO2 emissions - and subscribe to The PSC in Conversation wherever you get your podcasts.

Why is space chocolate better than that on earth?

Cocoa butter is a primary ingredient in chocolate, which is composed primarily of fat molecules. Cocoa butter has at least 6 different crystal forms - differing in how the molecules are arranged or stacked together, which in turn influences appearance, texture, and taste. With no sedimentation in orbit, gravity doesn’t drag down the denser molecules in a mixture, meaning the crystal structure might get larger. Hence, chocolate might taste better if it was made in space - at least, according to David. 

What does space chocolate look like?

Unfortunately for all Galaxy bar lovers, we’ve decided to make dark chocolate in space - this simplifies the ingredients list and reduces the worry of dairy products out of the atmosphere. Our model is therefore based on a recipe of 50% cocoa, 35% cocoa butter, and 15% sugar - this is a higher percentage of cocoa butter than normal for dark chocolate, to take advantage of the lipid crystal structures. We’re making 100g boxes of 8-10 chocolates, in novel shapes, not yet (to our knowledge) able to be manufactured on earth - we're talking planets, sierpinski triangles, moebius strips, and so on. 

How do we actually make chocolate in space?

In the podcast we dive into more detail about how space chocolate would actually be manufactured, including the logistics of getting the ingredients up and the products down, but we have briefly summarised the process below:

So, what are the total costs - and does this make space chocolate a reasonable investment?

We've created the graphic below to illustrate what each section would cost. You can see the full breakdown of our cost estimates in our spreadsheet - and if you think we've got the estimates wrong, feel free to comment on the sheet and we can revise them. 

Our numbers point to an upfront investment of nearly £21.5m for 1200 100g boxes of space chocolate - a significant price tag of £18,000 per box - and, though this cost may come down with subsequent launches, it still far exceeds our podcast team's price range of £20-500 for 100g of space chocolate. So, is it worth the investment? That remains to be seen! Let us know how much you would pay for space chocolate by filling out our form. 

About the podcast series:

In ‘The PSC in Coversation: Space for Growth’, we are joined by different guests to explore the role that the space and satellite industry plays in three out of seven of the growth driving sectors of the economy, as identified by the Invest 2035 strategy: digital and technology, defence, and advanced manufacturing. The strategy went out to consultation in the autumn of last year - The PSC submitted a response to this alongside people from across UK industry and academia, and the government has just finished considering our response alongside everyone else's.

If you missed them, catch up on the five episodes in the series:

• Episode 1: with Lord Victor Adebowale, who introduces the government's Invest 2035 industrial strategy, and where we discuss the role that space and satellites could play within it.
• Episode 2: with Paul Brabant from HSAT.ai, where we discuss the role of space and satellites in the digital and technology sector, and how satellite technology is revolutionsing our oldest sector, agriculture.
• Episode 3: with Peter Death from CGI, where we discuss the role of space in defence, and how this is key for economic growth and national stability. 
• Episode 4: with David Leslie from Lab287, where we discuss how we can unlock new potentials with advanced manufacturing in space, from better chemotherapy drugs and fibre optics, to space chocolate. 
• Episode 5: Stellar reflections from the series, where we tie together everything we've learnt across the series and share our insights on where the future lies for the space and satellites industry.