An Introduction to the Starlab Environment Control and Life Support System (ECLSS)

Starlab is a commercial, single-launch space station developed in partnership with the NASA Commercial LEO Destinations Program and launching in 2029. It will provide living and working space for a continuous crew of four Astronauts, supporting up to eight for short periods. The habitable volume will comprise three Decks in a single large Habitat plus a smaller conical element all connected by a central passageway and sharing a contiguous atmosphere that is not pressure-separable. Starlab’s ECLSS development approach leverages 30+ years of NASA and ESA investment in life support and thermal control as well as the newly emerged capabilities of the commercial hardware suppliers those investments enabled. A majority of the hardware will be modern implementations of the technologies utilized on the US Segment of the International Space Station. Exceptions will be made for obsolete or significantly improved technologies. Adaptations will be made based on lessons-learned from ISS and to account for the large contiguous volume. The hardware will be fully tested and integrated on-ground to meet the single-launch goal and a rapid initial operations capability. As part of the commercial approach most hardware will be packaged in Standard Equipment Racks to harmonize interfaces and facilitate competition, robustness/reliability, maintenance, and upgradability. Starlab’s ECLSS will continuously maintain optimum ventilation, temperature and humidity and levels of absolute pressure, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and trace gases. It will recycle wastewater, supply potable water, and provide services to other station systems such as vacuum and nitrogen supply and fire detection. Crew metabolic waste will be collected and stabilized. Solid waste will be sealed in disposable containers and water will be recovered from urine. A loop closure greater than 90% will be achieved with the capability for future expansion and evolution. This paper provides an overview over the Starlab ECLSS and its design and implementation drivers.