The International Space Station is finally getting an espresso machine

The International Space Station is finally getting an espresso machine
(Image credit: YouTube/Lavazza)

Despite Starbucks' ubiquity, the company hasn't been able to penetrate the vast, untapped market of space yet — and now it might have some competition. Italian coffee company Lavazza is creating a custom-made, space-ready coffee machine called the "ISSpresso," which promises "authentic Italian espresso" for astronauts who are coffee snobs.

The machine uses a high-tech system to perfect a cup of coffee in the micro-gravity environment. The Independent explains:

The plastic tube that normally delivers water in coffeemakers has been replaced by a steel tube capable of resisting pressures of over 400 bar to ensure that no liquids escape and the final product is served not in an espresso cup but in a sealed plastic pouch that lets the astronauts suck up their morning shot with a straw – rather than chase it around the zero G ISS. [The Independent]

The machine will be delivered in November to the ISS by — who else? — an Italian astronaut.

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Jordan Valinsky is the lead writer for Speed Reads. Before joining The Week, he wrote for New York Observer's tech blog, Betabeat, and tracked the intersection between popular culture and the internet for The Daily Dot. He graduated with a degree in online journalism from Ohio University.