Design and establishment of a large-scale controlled ecological life-support system integrated experimental platform
Abstract
A Controlled Ecological Life-Support System (CELSS) can meet the demands of food, oxygen, and water for human, as well as providing psychological benefits during deep space exploration by the continuous materials regeneration. Many key techniques of the platform are needed to explore before applying to the extraterrestrial planets. In this study, a large-scale CELSS integrated experimental platform was designed and constructed to meet the basic life-support material demands of six crew members (max). The platform was composed of four kinds of cabins including Crew Cabin (CC), Plant Cabin (PC), Life-Support Cabin (LSC), Resource Recycling Cabin (RRC) and affiliated facilities. Eight cabins were involved in the platform, i.e., CCs I and II, PCs I, II, III and IV, LSC, and RRC. The platform involved 15 subsystems and covered a plant culture area of 206.6 m 2 (a max extensible area of 260 m 2) and a total volume of 1340 m 3. The joint debuggings and the 4-subject 180-day CELSS integration experiment were carried out successfully. The material closures were 55% (on average) for food (70.8% in highly efficient production period), 100% for atmospheric regeneration, 100% for water regeneration, and 87.7% for recycled solid waste in the 4-subject 180-day integration experiment. It verified that the indicators of the platform meet the technical requirements and realize food regeneration, air regeneration and water regeneration through the integration of physico-chemical technique and biological technique for the long-term survivals of six crew members in the closed cabins.
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Since the concept of ECLSS was formally proposed by NASA, a series of ecosystems have been developed to simulate the lives of humans in the planet cabin environment by providing necessary survival resources for a period of time.
“Since the concept of ECLSS was formally proposed by NASA, a series of ecosystems have been developed to simulate the lives of humans in the planet cabin environment by providing necessary survival resources for a period of time.”
From Energy system and resource utilization in space: A state-of-the-art review (2024) · cites this paper as [50]
These ecosystems mainly include ECLSS and CELSS by NASA, BIOS series by Soviet Union/Russia, MELiSSA by ESA, CELSS Integrated Experimental Platform and Lunar Palace by China, and CEEF by Japan.
“These ecosystems mainly include ECLSS and Controlled Ecological Life-Support System (CELSS) by NASA, BIOS series by Soviet Union/Russia, Micro-Ecological Life Support System Alternative (MELiSSA) by European Space Agency (ESA), CELSS Integrated Experimental Platform and Lunar Palace by China, and Closed Ecological Experimental Facility (CEEF) by Japan. 47-52”
From Energy system and resource utilization in space: A state-of-the-art review (2024) · cites this paper as [50]
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- Authors
- Tang, Y., Dong, W., Ai, W., Zhang, L., Li, J., Yu, Q., Guo, S., & Li, Y.
- Affiliations
- China Astronaut Research and Training Center (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Tang, Yongkang
- Venue
- Life Sciences in Space Research
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2021-11
- Volume
- 31
- Pages
- 121-130
- ISSN
- 2214-5524 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3198023444
- Cited by
- 7
- References
- 31
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 1
- FWCI
- 0.65
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Life Sciences in Space Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Aerospace Engineering › Space Exploration and Technology
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Greenhouse Technology and Climate Control
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Aquatic Science › Innovations in Aquaponics and Hydroponics Systems
- Keywords
- CELSS, closed ecological life support systems, deep space exploration, material regeneration, water regeneration, solid waste recycling
- MeSH terms
- Humans, Plants, Space Flight, Water, Ecological Systems, Closed, Water Purification
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