TOKYO, April 30 -- A small bottle of Japanese sake, made from mash fermented in space, sold for almost US$700,000 (RM2.8 million), its brewer said as the company explores ways to make the drink on the Moon.

Sake brewer Dassai teamed up with aerospace and engineering firm Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to build specialised brewing equipment and send it to the International Space Station (ISS) along with sake ingredients.

The alcoholic fermentation process was carried out in November inside facilities at the ISS that mimicked lunar gravity, the two firms said in a joint statement, dated yesterday.

The mash was returned to Earth in February and was refined into 116 millilitres (four fluid ounces) of sake in March in Japan.

The drink was pac...