Agrisystems Available
HG-40 grove module
A sealed, three-tier hydroponic growing module that links into groves of any size, on Earth or in orbit.
The HG-40 grows leafy greens, herbs, soft fruit and dwarf cereals on three tiers under its own lamps, with recirculating nutrients and a sealed air loop. A single module produces about 1.9 tonnes of lettuce a year in 12 square meters of floor.
Modules link side by side and end to end into groves, share water and air through a service riser, and can be moved with their crops in place. The HG-40 was developed for Citadel Station, where its predecessor flew in 2005, and has been sold commercially since 2017.
Specifications
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 4,000 × 3,000 × 2,980 mm |
| Growing area | 36 m² on three tiers |
| Water use | About 2 litres per kilogram of lettuce |
| Lighting | LED, 620 µmol/m²/s, adjustable spectrum |
| Control | ClimaCore, local or remote |
| Mass (planted) | 2.6 t |
| Power | 400 V three-phase, 14 kW average |
| Annual yield | About 1.9 t of lettuce, or 0.9 t of strawberries |
Modules are delivered on a standard flatbed truck, fully assembled, and need only water, power and a drain to start growing. The first harvest of leafy greens is ready about four weeks after planting.
Applications
- Commercial vertical farms, where modules are stacked on up to eight floors. The farm at Almere uses 1,640 of them.
- Hospital, school and workplace kitchens that want fresh produce grown on site, usually with two to six modules.
- Remote sites, including mines, research stations and islands, where fresh food is otherwise flown in. Six modules have fed an Arctic research station through the polar night since 2024.
- Research facilities in orbit, for which the grove was first designed.
Operation and service
An HG-40 needs about forty minutes of work a day for planting, harvesting and cleaning, and can be run by staff with two days’ training. ClimaCore software adjusts light, water and air automatically and alerts the operator by phone if anything drifts out of range. Agrisystems can operate modules on a customer’s behalf, and services them every six months.
The groves at Citadel Station (TR-07738) are suspended pending the Turing Registry’s review of every TriOptimum filing. Commercial HG-40 modules do not include autonomous release or jettison functions.