China Upgrades Space Station Kitchen with Microwave and Convection Oven

China has comprehensively upgraded the cooking infrastructure aboard its Tiangong space station, enabling astronauts to prepare hot meals in under 20 minutes, state media reported from the National Space Medicine Engineering Conference in Tianjin. Jointly developed by the Astronaut Center of China and private commercial firms, the system features a dedicated water dispenser for treated recycled water, a low-leakage microwave reheating unit, and a convection oven equipped with catalytic fumes filtration. First deployed during the joint stay of the Shenzhou-20 and Shenzhou-21 crews in November 2025, the upgraded kitchen supports on-orbit baking, meat cooking, and yogurt fermentation, with flight menus expanding to nearly 200 distinct items on a 10-day cycle.

Advances in on-orbit food preparation and closed-loop environmental control are essential for sustaining human health during extended space missions. Beyond boosting crew morale and caloric intake during long stays aboard Tiangong, perfecting cooking, oil-smoke purification, and water treatment under microgravity conditions establishes key engineering baselines for future lunar bases and long-duration deep space exploration.

Astronauts aboard China's Tiangong space station can now prepare hot meals in under 20 minutes following a comprehensive upgrade to the station's culinary and life-support appliances, according to reports from state news agency Xinhua. The technological milestones were presented at the inaugural National Space Medicine Engineering Conference held in Tianjin. The updated suite of equipment—dubbed the 'space kitchen'—was jointly developed by the Astronaut Center of China and multiple domestic private technology enterprises to improve long-duration living conditions in orbit. Key innovations span water management, rapid reheating, and raw ingredient preparation. According to Liu Weibo, a representative of the Astronaut Center of China, engineers designed a specialized water dispenser capable of gas-liquid separation heating, calibrated quantitative distribution, constant-temperature output, and dedicated silver-removal technology to guarantee the safety of recycled potable water. For food preparation, developers constructed a specialized low-power microwave unit engineered to prevent microwave radiation leakage into the station's electronic environment. In addition, the station introduced an on-orbit hot-air convection oven. Liu stated that the unit utilizes precise thermal control, structural optimization, and a composite chemical catalytic purification system to capture and clean oil fumes with low power draw, enabling astronauts to roast chicken wings, steaks, and cakes in zero gravity. The convection oven was delivered aboard the Shenzhou-21 spacecraft and formally commissioned in November 2025 during the orbital handover with the outgoing Shenzhou-20 crew, marking the first time Chinese astronauts prepared roasted foods on the station. Alongside hardware upgrades, the orbital diet has expanded significantly. China's space menu now encompasses nearly 200 distinct food items on an extended 10-day cycle. Researchers credited breakthroughs in industrial food processing, probiotic microencapsulation, gradient freeze-drying, and fresh produce preservation, which now allow on-orbit yogurt fermentation and the handling of fresh vegetables, meats, and nuts. Chinese mission planners note that these advances have substantially improved crew appetite and caloric intake during extended missions.