Living in Space

The field of space exploration has witnessed remarkable advances since the successful launch of the Sputnik satellite in October 1957. Rapid progression followed with humans embarking on sub-orbital missions, venturing into low Earth orbit, and ultimately landing on the Moon by 1969. In recent decades, research on sustaining life in space has largely focused on near-Earth space stations, yielding crucial insights into long-duration space missions. However, with ambitious plans to return to the Moon and explore Mars, new challenges must be addressed. Key areas requiring further research and development include medicine, health care, space transportation systems, and bio-regenerative life support, alongside legal, regulatory, environmental, and ethical considerations.

This Research Topic aims to explore the essential conditions for creating living systems in deep space that mimic Earth's complex life-support capabilities. By doing so, we can inform not only future space station designs and planetary colonies but also advance life-sustaining technologies on Earth. The overarching objective is to enhance our understanding of space environments to ensure planetary safety and protection, benefiting humanity and its biodiverse ecosystem. The exploration of how to replicate Earth's life-supporting attributes in space will yield transformative insights that transcend space exploration.

To gather further insights into creating sustainable space habitats, we welcome Mini Review, Perspective, and Brief Research Report articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

1. Innovative, reusable, and advanced concepts in spacecraft or launch systems optimized for deep space.
2. Space-based agricultural production, including hydroponics and aeroponics.
3. Developing self-sustaining capabilities in space, including:
a. Medicines and vitamins.
b. Water and oxygen.
c. Food and nutritional sources.
d. Sustainable Bio-regenerative Life Support Systems (BLSS).
4. Astronaut health and performance, including:
a. Medical care.
b. Space Psychology.
5. Space habitats and colonies.
6. Governance and regulatory issues in space.
7. Financial and economic concerns.
8. Hazards and space safety topics:
a. Space debris.
b. Radiation standards, protection, and microgravity issues.
c. Space weather, Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) Events, and Coronal Mass Ejections.
d. Search and rescue on the Moon or Mars.
9. Architecture, construction, and design for deep space.
10. Space mining and resource processing.
11. Supply Chains or self-sufficiency for space habitats.
12. Environmental and sustainability considerations.
13. Meeting infrastructure needs in space: energy, lighting, telecommunications, networking, navigation, search and rescue, and more.
14. Advanced concepts such as: sustainable atmospheres in deep space, magnetic shielding systems for space weather protection, unconventional off-world energy systems, space elevators, and more.
15. Other topics, such as integrated living concepts for the Moon, Mars, or free-space habitats.

The submissions for this Research Topic should consider not only the technological and scientific aspects but also the interdisciplinary collaboration needed across fields such as biology, medicine, space sciences, law, economics, and ethics, among others.

This Research Topic is associated with the workshop ‘Living-in-Space’, which will be a virtual event via Zoom on November 13, 2025. Submissions to this collection are not restricted to those participating in the workshop.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Bio-regenerative Life Support Systems (BLISS), deep space habitats, space safety, In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU), Microgravity effects, sustainable space exploration, space medicine and healthcare, space agriculture, space governance and ethics

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.