The international habitat or, I-Hab for short, is one of ESA’s many contributions to the lunar Gateway – an outpost that will orbit the Moon as part of the Artemis programme.

The I-Hab is a pressurised module that will provide living quarters for astronauts visiting the Gateway, including multiple docking ports for berthing vehicles as well as other modules.

It will offer around 10 cubic meters of living space and, together with the NASA’s Habitation and Logistics Outpost module, will provide enough room for up to four astronauts to stay for up to 90 days at a time.

The habitat will offer space and amenities to run experiments, both inside and outside the module. I-Hab’s exterior will also include attachment points for the Canadarm-3 robotic arm that will serve the Gateway.

The I-Hab project is led by ESA, who have selected Thales Alenia Space as prime contractor to develop the module. The project also contains contributions from the other Gateway partners; Japan’s space agency (JAXA), for example, is providing the Environmental Control Support System, as well as other equipment such as thermal cooling pumps and batteries.

I-Hab will be made lighter than International Space Station structures, with enhanced docking systems and hatches and more efficient thermal control. It will provide good protection against micrometeorites, as well as deep-space radiation.

To evaluate their designs, Thales Alenia Space is combining virtual reality with ESA astronauts’ expertise to fine-tune the module’s layout and functions.

In terms of computer control, the I-Hab will be a next-generation leap compared to the International Space Station, offering more control from Earth as well as failure tolerant and time critical data exchange at high speeds.

Gateway activities started with Phase B2 in April 2020, and the Preliminary Design Review was completed in November 2021. Development is now in the critical design phase.

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