Astronauts aboard China’s Tiangong space station have, for the first time, baked food in orbit using a specially designed oven, marking a major leap forward in the country’s space kitchen technology.

The hot-air oven, delivered by the Shenzhou-21 spacecraft, allowed crew members from the Shenzhou-20 and Shenzhou-21 missions to prepare freshly baked meals such as chicken wings and steak. This milestone moves China’s astronauts beyond simple reheating toward true cooking and baking in space.

“We used high-temperature catalysis and multi-layer filtration technologies to enable smoke-free baking,” said Xuan Yong, a researcher at the China Astronaut Research and Training Center told Reuters. “Given the special conditions in orbit, the oven is completely reliable and safe. Every part that astr

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