reproduction or redistribution prohibited, Circular Life Support Systems Sustaining Exploration of Space and Extreme Earth Habitats Antarctic Futures Symposium 2026 Dries Demey 23 April 2026
reproduction or redistribution prohibited REDWIRE 2 History Facility BE 1984 – Start space activities at VERHAERT (BE) 2005 - Acquired by QinetiQ (UK) 2022 - Acquired by Redwire (US) BE, LUX & PL Redwire delivers a broad portfolio of innovative space infrastructure and mission-enabling technologies that power the future of space exploration, commercialization and security Life Support Technologies are developed by the experts located at facilities located in Kruibeke, Belgium What we do
reproduction or redistribution prohibited ACTVITIES 3 Life Support Systems Science & Exploration Equipment Satellites • Small satellites and platforms • Satellite operations • Advanced Data and Power Management Systems (ADPMS) • International Berthing and Docking Mechanism • Telescope baffles • Instruments for scientific research in microgravity • Instruments for research on countermeasures • (Waste) Water recycling • CO2 capture and O2 production • Fuel production • Nutrient recovery
reproduction or redistribution prohibited 5 Roman soldiers carrying their ration (Column of Trajan, c133) Normans prepare the invasion of Britain (Carpet of Bayeux, c1070) Unknown (British Museum, c1591) LIFE SUPPORT SUSTAINING EXPLORATION The earliest life-support technology was logistics
reproduction or redistribution prohibited 7 NASA Polar expeditions NASA Short term Long term Rantion In-situ resources Drinking water Hygienic water Recycle IPF 3 L/p.day 20 to 100 L/p.day Duration Consumption Production MISSION SCENARIO Waste Metabolic waste Gray Wastewater Black Wastewater
reproduction or redistribution prohibited MISSION SCENARIO - LIFE SUPPORT TECHNOLOGY 8 F. Leese and C. Olthoff, “Analysis of Historical Life Support Systems to Define a Design Envelope for Future Missions,” presented at the 54th International Conference on Environmental Systems, Prague, Czech Republic, Jul. 2025. Human space baseline : 4 crew members
reproduction or redistribution prohibited SYSTEM DESIGN TRADE-OFF 9 ESM – Equivalent System Mass Mass – Volume – Power – Cooling – Crew Time Peq for power systems on Mars Technology Efficiency ESM Photovoltaic cell - no storage 28% 149 kg/kW Photovoltaic cell - with storage 20% 228 kg/kW Nuclear w/ Static Thermoelectric Power Production 54 kg/kW Nuclear Fission Power System 409 kg/kW M. K. Ewert, T. T. Chen, and C. D. Powell, “Life Support Baseline Values and Assumptions Document,” NASA, NASA/TP-2015–218570/REV2, Feb. 2022. doi: NASA/TP-2015–218570/REV2.
reproduction or redistribution prohibited 12 ISS ECLSS ISRU Regenerative Life Support Technology Technology heritage Lessons learned Primary resources Recycling In-situ Resource Utilisation Environmental Control Life Support Systems Hybrid systems Physicochemical (Bio)Electrochemical Microbiological
reproduction or redistribution prohibited WATER MANAGEMENT 13 Princess Elisabeth Station Concordia Station WTU MKII > 20 years > 15 years Operational Experience at Antarctica
reproduction or redistribution prohibited WATER MANAGEMENT 14 Ground model ISS ECLSS (NASA) Redwire WTU design Water Treatment Unit Breadboard (ESA) ISS heritage and future systems
reproduction or redistribution prohibited FROM WASTEWATER TO POTABLE WATER 16 Dissolved solids Suspended solids Organic Inorganic Micro-organisms Oxidation/Reduction, Filtration, Adsorption Precipitation, Crystallizing, Filtration, Adsorption, Ion Exchange Filtration, Inactivation Decantation, Filtration H 2 O Evaporation, condensation Dissolved gasses Gas transfer - equilibrium
reproduction or redistribution prohibited INDOOR AIR QUALITY 18 PM2.5/10 Humidity and Temperature Particulate Matter Carbondioxide Volatile Organic Carbons Microorganisms CO2 O2 Aerosols
reproduction or redistribution prohibited PHOTOBIOREACTOR 20 Photosynthesis H 2 O CO 2 O 2 Biomass 1 kg 0,5 kg 1 kg 0,5 kg NO 3 Limnospira platensis CYANOBACTERIA Hui Ye et al., 2025, Proliferation of oxygen oases in Mesoarchean oceans. Geology (2025) 53 (4): 365–369. https://doi.org/10.1130/G52607.1
reproduction or redistribution prohibited FOOD 22 • Recommended daily energy intake : nominal 2200 kcal/day.person • Recommended diet variation : Food Guide Pyramid • Protein intake : 100 g proteins / day.person (= source of amino acids) Challenges • Protein Turnover : synthesis and degradation • Nitrogen in urine : 15 g N / day.person • Recycle the nitrogen in the urine Relevance • Limiting carrying capacity of the Earth ecosystem and environmental stress • Increasing world population • Limited resupply possibilities requires regenerative production processes recycling waste materials On Earth Long term crewed space missions Solution • Single Cell Proteins (SCP) • Shorter production cycle (limit meat) • Efficient yields (resource, energy, time) Demey, D., and Vandermies, M. Holistic Resource Management for Sustainable Life Support beyond Low-Earth Orbit: Focus on Nitrogen. Presented at the 51st International conference on Environmental Systems, Saint-Paul Minnesota, 2022. https://hdl.handle.net/2346/89719
Your Podcast. Everywhere. Effortlessly.
ipfevents
nagano
sshimizu2006
tagtag
trycycle
peterdesmet
rmaruy
rlifchitz
ykiyota
bonotake
syotasasaki593876
grow_design_lab
jct
jonrohan
marktimemedia
letsgokoyo
popppiees
varn
kevinliebholz
reverentgeek
davidcarrasco
katiecoart
vanstee
ipullrank
