The MELiSSA Foundation is a non-profit organisation that supports education, outreach and communication around the MELiSSA research ecosystem, covering regenerative life support systems, circular economy technologies, life sciences and sustainability, and coordinates projects with external partners. It operates in close connection with ESA-managed research activities.
The Foundation is also a home for the knowledge the MELiSSA community has built up over more than thirty-five years.
The MELiSSA programme brings together fifteen formal partners: eight universities, two research institutes, three companies and the MELiSSA Foundation itself, coordinated with the European Space Agency. Beyond these formal partners, MELiSSA works with at least fifty other organisations in a variety of collaborations.
Members of the MELiSSA consortium at an annual programme meeting.
The Foundation is an independent legal entity and a signatory member of the MELiSSA consortium. It is not part of ESA, but works in close and ongoing collaboration with the Agency, which has supported the project since 1989.
A small, dedicated team working in close collaboration with the MELiSSA consortium partners and the European Space Agency.
Rob Suters holds a Master's degree in Law and co-founded the MELiSSA Foundation with the aim of creating an independent organisation that could support and extend the reach of the MELiSSA project beyond the research consortium itself. In his role as Executive Director, he oversees the Foundation's governance, partnerships, and programme development, and works closely with the MELiSSA consortium and…
Dr. Lucie Poulet is a plant ecophysiologist and space life scientist with experience across controlled environment agriculture and closed-loop biological systems. As Scientific Director of the MELiSSA Foundation, she provides scientific oversight of the Foundation's activities and maintains close ties with the research teams active within the MELiSSA consortium. She is particularly engaged in supporting the next generation of researchers…
The Foundation has benefited from the involvement of several scientists who helped shape its direction over the years.
Dr. Christophe Lasseur co-founded the MELiSSA Foundation together with Rob Suters and served as its first Scientific Director. As MELiSSA Project Manager at ESA, he has been closely involved in the project for over three decades. It was Christophe who developed the POMP concept, which formed the practical basis on which the Foundation was originally built. The Foundation has since…
Professor Max Mergeay is a microbiologist whose work on the behaviour of microorganisms in extreme environments was foundational to MELiSSA's approach to biological waste processing and nutrient recovery. His early contributions helped establish the scientific basis of the closed-loop life support concept, and his influence on the project's direction has been lasting.
Dr. Bérengère Farges brought expertise in bioprocess engineering and the mathematical modelling of biological compartments to her tenure as Scientific Director. Her work contributed to advancing the quantitative understanding of how MELiSSA's interconnected processes function as a coherent system — an important step in moving from experimental results towards engineering-level predictability.
Professor Gilles Dussap is a bioprocess engineer whose research into photobioreactor design and microbial growth modelling has been closely connected to MELiSSA's work on the cyanobacteria and microalgae compartments. During his time as Scientific Director, he contributed both scientific depth and practical grounding to the Foundation's activities, and his work within the consortium continues to this day.