Roscosmos develops bioregenerative life support systems for deep-space flights, says agency head

Roscosmos head Dmitry Bakanov said such systems may be needed for deep-space missions; one option pairs photobioreactors with plant-growing units.

Roscosmos is developing bioregenerative technologies meant to reproduce the main processes of Earth's biosphere in space, ixbt.com reports. Agency head Dmitry Bakanov said such solutions may be needed for deep-space flights. ixbt.com

He named one such approach: joint use of photobioreactors and plant-growing units. The photobioreactors process carbon dioxide, release oxygen and make it possible to obtain protein biomass. Plants supplement the crew's diet and create an environment more familiar to humans.

Bioregenerative life support systems (BLSS) are artificially created closed ecosystems that sustain a crew in space with living organisms. In traditional physico-chemical systems, such as those on the ISS, machines purify air and water, and food is delivered from Earth. BLSS instead reproduce natural terrestrial cycles to produce food, oxygen and clean water autonomously.