A champagne company has partnered with a space design agency on a bottle tailored for zero gravity drinking.
In September 2018, Maison Mumm will launch the product Mumm Grand Cordon Stellar, which gives astronauts and other space travelers the option of enjoying champagne in space.
The announcement follows on the heels of other beverage companies seeking to tap into the space drinking segment in recent months.
The result of a three-year partnership with Spade – an agency specialising in space design – the product uses a new bottle and glass concept to enable the champagne ritual.
Spade founder Octave de Gaulle said space travel had been shaped so far by engineers rather than designers.
“Instead of seeing zero gravity as a problem to be solved, we look at it as a design possibility,” he said.
“The big design challenge for Mumm Grand Cordon Stellar was actually getting the liquid out of the bottle.”
The bottle, which was crafted from transparent glass, uses the champagne's gas to expel the liquid into a ring-shaped frame, where it is concentrated into a droplet of bubbles.
It can then be passed to someone and released into the air, where it floats until gathered up in a specially designed glass.
The glass design has a tapered stem, is adorned with a red sash, and is crowned by a concave cup five centimetres in diameter.
Surface tension helps the floating droplet adhere to the glass, allowing it to be raised to the lips.
The design also enables glasses to be clinked together in a toast.
Mumm Grand Cordon Stellar will soon be served to participants in the zero gravity flights organized by Novespace, while discussions are in progress to supply it to future space missions and commercial space flights.
