Space architecture

Space architecture is the theory and practice of designing and building inhabited environments in outer space.^[1] This mission statement for space architecture was developed in 2002 by participants in the 1st Space Architecture Symposium, organized at the World Space Congress in Houston, by the Aerospace Architecture Subcommittee, Design Engineering Technical Committee (DETC), American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).

The subcommittee rose to the status of an independent Space Architecture Technical Committee (SATC) of the AIAA 2008. The SATC routinely organizes technical sessions at several conferences, including AIAA ASCEND, the International Conference on Environmental Systems (ICES), the International Astronautical Congress (IAC), and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Earth & Space conference.

SpaceArchitect.org is an outgrowth of the SATC that invites wider participation. Its membership is essentially a superset of the SATC's, and is independent of the AIAA.

The practice of involving architects in the space program grew out of the Space Race, although its origins can be seen much earlier. The need for their involvement stemmed from the push to extend space mission durations and address the needs of astronauts beyond minimum survival needs.

Much space architecture work has focused on design concepts for orbital space stations and lunar and Martian exploration ships and surface bases for the world's space agencies, including NASA, ESA, JAXA, CSA, Roscosmos, and CNSA.

Despite the historical pattern of large government-led space projects and university-level conceptual design, the advent of space tourism is shifting the outlook for space architecture work.

The architectural approach to spacecraft design addresses the total built environment. It combines the fields of architecture and engineering (especially aerospace engineering), and also involves diverse disciplines such as industrial design, physiology, psychology, and sociology.

Like architecture on Earth, the attempt is to go beyond the component elements and systems and gain a broad understanding of the issues that affect design success.^[2] Space architecture borrows from multiple forms of niche architecture to accomplish the task of ensuring human beings can live and work in space. These include the kinds of design elements one finds in “tiny housing, small living apartments / houses, vehicle design, capsule hotels, and more.”^[3]

Specialized space-architecture education is currently offered in several institutions. The Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture (SICSA) is an academic unit within the University of Houston that offers a Master of Science in Space Architecture. SICSA also works design contracts with corporations and space agencies. In Europe, The Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien) and the International Space University are involved in space architecture research. The TU Wien offers an EMBA in Space Architecture.