Life support system development in West Germany

The delivery of fully qualified Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLS) flight hardware for the Spacelab Flight Unit was completed in 1979, and the first Spacelab flight is scheduled for mid 1983.

With Spacelab approaching its operational stage, ESA has initiated the Follow-on Development Programme. The future evolution of Spacelab elements in a continued U.S./European cooperation is obviously linked to the U.S. STS evolution and leads from the sortie-mode improvements (Initial Step) towards pallet systems and module applications in unmanned and manned space platforms (Medium and Far Term Alternatives).

Extensive studies and design work have been accomplished on life support systems for Life Sciences Laboratories (Biorack) in Spacelab (incubators and holding units for low vertebrates).

Future long term missions require the implementation of closed loop life support systems and in order to meet the long range development cycle feasibility studies have been performed. Terrestrial applications of the life support technologies developed for space have been successfully implemented.