A full-size mockup of the European Space Agency’s Lunar I-Hab Gateway space station module has completed its acceptance review. The module’s prime contractor, Thales Alenia Space, will use the mockup to ensure future occupants can navigate the module safely and efficiently.
The I-Hab module, which was recently rebranded to the Lunar I-Hab module, is part of ESA’s contribution to NASA’s lunar Gateway space station. ESA awarded a €327-million contract to Thales Alenia Space back in October 2020 for the development and manufacture of the module. It will provide ten cubic metres of habitable volume to Gateway and will feature a small galley, personal crew compartments for visiting astronauts, and exercise and medical areas. I-HAB will also feature four docking ports, with two allocated for visiting vehicles. The other two docking ports will be used to connect it to NASA’s HALO module and to add an airlock provided by the Emirati space agency MBRSC.
Built by Bremen-based Liquifer Space Systems for Thales Alenia Space, the Lunar I-Hab mockup has initially been fitted with a low-fidelity interior. This means that key systems and equipment are represented with models that closely match their size and shape. As the test campaign progresses, higher fidelity configurations of the interior will be added. In particular, high-fidelity interfaces will be built to test connections between I-Hab and systems built by JAXA.
The Lunar I-Hab test campaigns will include the input of ESA and NASA astronauts, who will bring real-life experience from their time aboard the International Space Station. This will ensure that the module’s interior is designed to mitigate possible safety hazards while ensuring users can easily reach everything. This phase of testing is called the “human in the loop” campaign.
The fabrication of the pressurized element of the I-Hab flight model is currently underway at a Thales Alenia Space facility in Turin alongside that of NASA’s Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) module, which the company has also been entrusted to manufacture. While HALO will be among the first two elements of the space station launched in late 2025, I-Hab is not expected to be added to Gateway until late 2028 during Artemis 4.
