What is an environmental control and life-support system?

An environmental control and life-support system manages conditions such as atmosphere, temperature, humidity, pressure, water, waste, and fire safety for crewed spacecraft or habitats.

What environmental systems does Sierra Space provide?

Sierra Space describes open-loop short-duration and regenerable long-duration ECLSS options, air revitalization and pressure control, water-processing development, crew systems and thermal hardware. The exact scope is defined program by program.

How does this work connect to LIFE®?

Environmental and life-support technologies are part of the broader systems required to support safe, sustained operations within expandable habitats such as LIFE®.

Space Subsystems

Environmental Control and Life-Support Systems

Thermal, atmospheric, fluid, and life-support technologies for crewed spacecraft, habitats, payloads, and long-duration operations.

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Interior of a Sierra Space module with environmental control and life support ducting and equipment installed along both walls

Mission need

Sustaining People, Payloads, and Systems in Space

Crewed and payload environments depend on tightly integrated thermal, atmospheric, fluid, and life-support systems. Sierra Space develops technologies that help manage those conditions across spacecraft, habitats, research platforms, and mission-specific applications.

Life support

Environmental Control and Life Support

Developing vehicle systems and components to maintain a safe and comfortable environment for crew on orbit. Technology Portfolio encompasses atmospheric revitalization, pressure control, water recovery & management, and human waste management. The technologies supplied on any given program depend on the spacecraft or habitat they serve and on the mission duration they must support.

The ECLSS portfolio includes consumable, open-loop hardware for short-duration crew transport and regenerable systems intended to recover water on long-duration habitat missions. Air revitalization options address carbon dioxide and humidity; fans, blowers, pumps, ducts, sensors and control electronics support the system according to a specific vehicle architecture.

Pressure-control hardware such as composite overwrapped pressure vessels, regulators, valves and welded tube assemblies supports total and oxygen partial pressure within a desired range. Sierra Space is developing water-processing hardware for clean water for consumption, EVA and oxygen generation.

Technicians working within structural assemblies on the Victory Works production floor — Hardware production at Sierra Space’s Victory Works facility.

Thermal

Active Thermal Control

Sierra Space temperature control assembly with fluid lines and control electronics — Temperature Control Assembly

Providing innovative subsystems and components for heat collection, heat transport, and heat rejection. Examples include cold plates, heat exchangers, pumps and accumulators. Thermal performance is engineered against the operating conditions of each mission.

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Microgravity

Payload and Microgravity Environments

Crew systems include technical subsystems and components that help crews use space systems safely and effectively. The crew systems portfolio includes lighting, payloads and trash management, as well as technology testing that uses the crew’s presence in space.

Illuminated payload growth racks inside a ground environmental test chamber — Ground payload environment under controlled lighting

Engineering

Designed as a System

Sierra Space is developing in-situ resource utilization tools and technologies for extracting and processing material from lunar regolith, Mars regolith and atmosphere to meet potential propulsion or human life-support needs and reduce resupply from Earth.

In-situ resource utilization test article inside a thermal vacuum chamber — In-situ resource utilization testing in a thermal vacuum chamber

Test equipment inside Sierra Space’s Power Station facility — Test equipment at Sierra Space’s Power Station facility.

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Questions

Environmental Systems FAQs

What is an environmental control and life-support system?: An environmental control and life-support system manages conditions such as atmosphere, temperature, humidity, pressure, water, waste, and fire safety for crewed spacecraft or habitats.
What environmental systems does Sierra Space provide?: Sierra Space describes open-loop short-duration and regenerable long-duration ECLSS options, air revitalization and pressure control, water-processing development, crew systems and thermal hardware. The exact scope is defined program by program.
How does this work connect to LIFE®?: Environmental and life-support technologies are part of the broader systems required to support safe, sustained operations within expandable habitats such as LIFE®.