Italian astronaut was adamant for some decent coffee. So NASA sent 'ISSpresso' up into space

If you’re a tea or coffee person, it doesn’t matter where you are; you want a cup of your beverage. According to a clip shared by @bbcsounds on January 30, 2026, an Italian astronaut, Luca Parmitano, was aching for a good cup of Italian coffee in space. It took a while to adhere to his requests, but the Italian Space Agency and Italian coffee manufacturer, Lavazza, finally created an espresso machine to send right up to space, reported The Guardian. In March 2015, NASA confirmed the “ISSpresso” machine was successfully ready to enter the International Space Station, and the first Italian astronaut to get a sip was Samantha Cristoforetti. 

Parmitano was certain he could no longer have the coffee prevalent at their space station. He needed a proper Italian coffee, and for coffee drinkers, you know, “proper” means you’re not playing. So Lavazza heard his plea and came up with the “ISSpresso” derived by combining “ISS” and “espresso.” According to Cognoscenti Coffee, the makers beat the odds to create a machine that would ensure espresso is not the instant, frozen, boring, plastic-like drink it previously was. They had to do things differently because the machine was going up in space — different temperatures, no gravity, different everything. For instance, instead of plastic tubes otherwise used in machines on Earth, the ISSpresso uses steel tubes. It also had a protective door to keep the hot, boiling water from harming the astronauts.

The machine functioned with a capsule mechanism, much like we have here on land. Astronauts had to insert a NASA bag, put it in the capsule based on their preference, and let the machine do its magic. Though Parmitano didn’t get that cup when he asked for it, his persistence pushed creators to pave the way for the comforting drink to fuel future space experts. 

While NASA initially had bags, even they figured, what’s coffee without a cup? Cristoforetti shared a selfie post with her first espresso in space on X. “‘Coffee: the finest organic suspension ever devised.’ Fresh espresso in the new Zero-G cup! To boldly brew,” she wrote in her caption, proudly standing alongside the transparent cup and the good golden-brown coffee.

This wasn’t just success, it was relief, comfort, magic, science, all packed in one refreshing cup. And this was crucial for astronauts. Research from Science Direct noted that the success of missions is dependent in some way on the well-being of astronauts up there. The study noted that astronauts are motivated by “achievement, affiliation, and power” when it comes to their missions.

Another study revealed that the food or drinks the crew receive up there also serve as “psychological support” with their familiar nature in an unfamiliar environment. So when you need that cup at home after getting out of bed, imagine how much more they need it up there! Drive Research found that nearly 3 in 4 Americans drink coffee every day. 36% have 3 to 5 cups on a daily basis. Around 2.25 billion cups of coffee are consumed in the world daily. We don’t know if that statistic involves the ISS drinkers, but if it doesn’t, it should because they need that good espresso to kickstart the mission, and now, they have it.

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