The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), through its Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC), has floated a tender to design and establish a Human Space Analog System (HSAS) at its Astronaut Training Facility in Bangalore.

The project marks a significant step in India's efforts to prepare astronauts for extended human spaceflight missions. At present, Indian astronauts, including recent Gaganyaatri Shubhanshu Shukla, have undergone specialised training in Russia due to the absence of a comparable facility in India.

The proposed habitat will be constructed within the Simulator Hall of the training complex and will replicate the isolated, confined and resource-constrained conditions that astronauts may encounter during prolonged missions in space.

Designed to support simulated missions lasting up to 60 days, the facility will enable researchers to study crew performance, psychological wellbeing, human factors, scientific experiments, systems integration and mission operations in a controlled environment.

The initiative forms part of India's human spaceflight preparations under the Gaganyaan program and is expected to play a vital role in training and assessing future Gaganyatris for longer-duration missions.

The habitat's core module will measure approximately five metres in diameter and five metres in height and will be arranged across two levels.

The lower level will house three crew workstations, equipment racks and a payload rack. The upper level will include a galley, dining area, avionics dashboard and exercise equipment such as a treadmill, cycle ergometer and strength trainer.

An airlock module fitted with an air shower and spacesuit storage facilities will also be incorporated into the complex.

A separate crew accommodation module will feature two-storey sleeping bunks, a vacuum toilet, a mist shower and a waterless washing machine to simulate realistic living conditions during extended missions.

A key feature of the facility will be its closed-loop habitability system designed to support a four-member crew while maintaining tightly controlled environmental conditions.

Temperature levels will be maintained between 20°C and 25°C, while carbon dioxide concentrations will normally remain below 1,000 ppm.

Researchers will also be able to activate an experimental mode that raises carbon dioxide levels to as much as 5,000 ppm, allowing studies of crew performance and physiological responses under off-nominal conditions.

To prepare astronauts for future deep-space exploration, the communication system will be capable of simulating one-way communication delays ranging from zero to 20 minutes between the crew and mission controllers.

Artificial intelligence and machine-learning-enabled 4K cameras will continuously monitor the habitat, detecting hazards such as fire, smoke, falls and unauthorised access.

More than 200 sensors distributed throughout the facility will track environmental and operational parameters including temperature, humidity, pressure, oxygen, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, particulate matter, volatile organic compounds, noise levels, lighting conditions and water quality.

All data will be transmitted in real time to the Mission Control Centre for analysis and supervision.

The habitat will also feature tunable circadian lighting systems, with LED units adjustable between 2,700K and 6,500K to replicate natural day-night cycles and help researchers evaluate the effects of controlled lighting on crew health and performance during extended isolation.

To support intensive monitoring and research activities, the facility will include two mission servers and approximately 100 TB of data storage capacity.

The human space analog habitat is expected to provide ISRO with a sophisticated test environment for studying how astronauts adapt physically and psychologically to prolonged isolation, limited resources and demanding operational scenarios.

The facility is also expected to strengthen India's long-term human spaceflight ambitions beyond the initial Gaganyaan missions, supporting future projects such as the proposed Bharatiya Antariksh Station and other advanced crewed exploration initiatives.

Agencies