Space Habitat Designers

Space habitat designers have assisted in the design of space stations for more than 55 years. Salyut I, which was launched in 1971 by the Soviet Union, was the world’s first space station (and first space habitat). The Soviet Union later developed and launched more advanced versions of the Salyut space station. In 1986, the Soviet Union launched the first module of the Mir space station. A total of 125 cosmonauts and astronauts from 12 countries resided on Mir during its 13 years of human occupancy.

The United States launched its first space station, Skylab 1, in1973. NASA reports that it had overall habitable volume of 12,417 cubic feet, a pressurized workshop, an airlock, and a suite of telescopes. “Skylab laid the foundations for the space science program on the International Space Station (ISS) and for future missions to the Moon and Mars,” according to NASA. Thus far, the ISS is the crowning achievement of space habitat designers. Five space agencies—NASA, Roscosmos, European Space Agency, Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency—contributed to the station’s design and assembly. The ISS has been in orbit for more than 25 years. NASA reports that the ISS is “larger than a six-bedroom house with six sleeping quarters, two bathrooms, a gym, and a 360-degree view bay window.”

Today’s space habitat designers are developing more than just space stations. They are providing their expertise regarding the design of spaceships that will undertake long-distance flights to Mars, space “hotels,” and habitats that will be delivered to or built or inflated on the surface of the moon, Mars, and potentially other planets (in the distant future).