In 2027, astronauts will be able to stay in an underwater habitat at a depth of 30 meters. The Danish company SAGA Space Architects is behind the habitat (UHAB-3), which will help, among others, the European Space Agency (ESA) train astronauts to live closely together in isolated units under challenging conditions, as preparation for upcoming moon missions.
The approximately 4,500 visitors at the Nordic region's largest deep-tech conference, Digital Tech Summit, had the opportunity to gain insight into the work with the habitat a few weeks ago, as SAGA Space Architects exhibited two experimental versions of their underwater habitat.
Inside Øksnehallen in Copenhagen, there was a small habitat for one person (UHAB-1), while outside, you could enter a 40-foot container and experience UHAB-2 in full scale with a laboratory, living room, and sleeping cabins designed for four people for up to 30 days.
DTU sees great research potential
DTU and SAGA Space Architects want to collaborate on research projects conducted on or in connection with the underwater habitat. At the Digital Tech Summit, Co-Founder and Lead Architect Sebastian Aristotelis gave a presentation to, among others, DTU's Provost and Executive Vice President Rasmus Larsen, and Head of Department at DTU Compute Jan Madsen, and then showed them around the exhibition container housing the UHAB-2 to experience it firsthand.
"SAGA Space Architects' underwater habitat is, if anything, technology for people. There is a lot of engineering work and engineering science that contributes to designing such a habitat. This naturally includes the construction itself, some of which is 3D-printed. It also includes the control of the indoor climate in a habitat at the bottom of the sea with temperature, humidity, and circadian rhythm light, balancing it in relation to energy efficiency and flexibility. And when several people must be together for many days in such a small space, it must work for everyone and not just an average person. These are research areas that DTU already works with," says Rasmus Larsen.
DTU Compute's Jan Madsen sees many possibilities, like the provost:
"Especially because the department’s researchers are experts in data processing and data analysis. The habitat itself and the crew will be monitored around the clock, generating large amounts of data. Our researchers work, for example, with data collection and processing within health, indoor climate, and energy optimization and flexibility."
A new research area for DTU Compute is underwater communication, i.e., how to communicate underwater with sonar and radio signals, which is also relevant for the underwater habitat.
Defence and Security
In addition to being Provost and Executive Vice President, Rasmus Larsen is Chair of the National Defence Technology Centre (NFC) steering committee. All eight Danish universities and all seven GTS institutes collaborate on defence technology development. The goal is to advance Denmark's defence and security. In this context, the underwater habitat also offers important opportunities.
"An underwater habitat is relevant for astronaut training, but also aspects within defence with security and military training, because it places people in extreme situations. It could be people who might be in inhospitable areas in the Arctic to protect Denmark and our alliance's security. It could also be underwater, where an underwater habitat would allow, with the help of various technologies and sensor systems, to monitor what is happening underwater. Just as people can be placed close to critical infrastructure to control them."
According to Architect & Partner in SAGA Space Architects Niklas Munk-Andersen the UHAB-2 needs to be fully constructed and thoroughly tested, and is expected to be sent to ESA's astronaut training centre in Cologne in Germany at the end of January / February 2025.
The exhibition at Digital Tech Summit was supported by the Beckett-Fonden and the Innovation Fund Denmark (Innovationsfonden).
