Two Italian companies — Lavazza Coffee and engineering firm Argotec — have designed a coffee machine for the International Space Station (ISS) that ‘fires’ water through capsules of coffee to overcome the absence of gravity.

The ‘ISSpresso’ machine, which weighs about 20kg — the same as all the science instruments on the Philae comet lander put together — has been delivered to the ISS by Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti.

Making coffee in space is difficult — especially espresso, which relies on 94°C water being passed through ground coffee under high pressure.

On Earth, this is achieved with the help of gravity. The ground coffee is placed in a perforated container; the water is then heated and shot onto the coffee, to drip into the cup.

According to the Italian national espresso institute, the water must reach the coffee at a pressure of 9 bar to be a certified Italian espresso. In space, the drink is pumped into another plastic pouch and the astronaut drinks it through a straw.

Giuseppe Lavazza, vice-president of the coffee company, says that the taste will be indistinguishable from that of espresso bought in Earth-bound coffee shops. Argotec has been working on the design since 2012, when a previous Italian astronaut, Luca Parmitano, said after a week in orbit that the only thing he missed was a good Italian espresso. Now, anyone in space can enjoy an espresso or even a wide variety of coffee choices such as Caturra, Excelsa, and Kona brands.