ESA Predicts Humans Living in ‘Space Oases’ on Mars in 2040

The European Space Agency (ESA) has outlined expectations for humans living on other planets as soon as 2040 in a newly published document.

Technology 2040 Vision envisages humans living in “autonomous habitats beyond Earth” on the Moon, Mars and beyond, following what it predicts will be a “rapid evolution of technology” in the coming years.

In a tweet, ESA Director-General Josef Aschbacher billed the document as a “call to action,” as part of a roadmap to building a “resilient European presence across Earth orbit and beyond.”

The document was released to clarify what space exploration—and habitation—could look like in the near future. The next steps in human exploration beyond Earth’s orbit “will involve longer stays and farther destinations,” its authors wrote.

This new wave of exploration will be underpinned by “space oases,” self-sustaining habitats that will protect astronauts using “circular management of resources.” The result should enable astronauts to spend far longer in space compared to current missions that are limited to around six months at most, the authors added.

Future space habitats will make use of “smart materials” and “in-situ manufacturing,” while supplies will be delivered using “high-velocity logistics” and technology such as mass drivers.

Doing all this while keeping the environmental impact to a minimum will pose challenges, the report’s authors noted. “Achieving true sustainability requires the kind of circular thinking increasingly seen on Earth,” with a “holistic” approach to using resources.

“The ability to repurpose and recycle materials in orbit is not only key to sustainability but will also enable new markets and capabilities and add additional commercial value to space assets,” the report said, building on predictions from ESA Director of Space Technology, Engineering and Quality at ESTEC Dietmar Pilz that the global space economy could be worth as much as €1 trillion by 2040.

Communications will also be improved, with “optical communications links” and “relay spacecraft” enabling “trunk lines” carrying communications and network data streams as far as Saturn.

The ESA predicted that AI and quantum technologies would play large roles in the leap forward, with smart materials, long-sustainability and modular payloads all expected to advance in the coming years.

Nevertheless, with this huge endeavour to achieve—and a recent SpaceX rocket test failure demonstrating that space travel is still fraught with risks—2040 may sound a little closer than expected.

Edited by Stephen Graves