Narrative review discusses ISRU and BLSS integration for space exploration life support systems

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Frontiers in Medicine Published May 27, 2026 Medically reviewed May 27, 2026 DOI ↗ By Dr. Amelia Tan, PhD · Internal Medicine & Chronic Disease

Key Takeaway

Note that ISRU and BLSS integration is discussed for space exploration without reported outcomes.

This narrative review focuses on the integration of in situ resource utilization and bioregenerative life support systems for space exploration. The scope of the article involves comparing abiotic technologies against biotic approaches and coupled architectures to determine optimal life support strategies. No specific population, sample size, or primary outcomes were reported in this source. The authors do not provide pooled effect sizes or quantitative data regarding system performance. Safety information, including adverse events or tolerability, was not reported in the provided text. The review does not establish causal links between specific interventions and outcomes due to its narrative nature. Limitations acknowledged by the authors regarding data completeness or generalizability are not detailed in the input. Practice relevance for terrestrial medicine is not addressed as the setting is strictly space exploration. The certainty of findings is constrained by the lack of primary trial data or specific numerical results in this narrative synthesis.

Study Details

Study typeSystematic review

EvidenceLevel 1

PublishedMay 2026

View Original Abstract ↓

The long-term presence of humans in space depends on reducing reliance on Earth's resupply of materials and resources. In situ resource utilization (ISRU) represents a sustainable approach to support human activities in space by converting local materials into consumables, propellants, and structural feedstocks. In parallel, bioregenerative life support systems (BLSS) primarily sustain internal loop closure (LC) by regenerating air, H2O, nutrients, and food from habitat-contained streams. Traditional ISRU concepts have primarily focused on abiotic technologies that process rocks, regolith, and atmospheric components to extract O2, H2O, and metals, although biotic approaches are also under investigation. Biological and bio-hybrid approaches, guided by microorganisms and other living systems, could complement these technologies by supporting both external resource conversion and internal LC in future space exploration. In this review, we adopt a resource-centric framework to compare abiotic, biotic, and coupled resources acquisition pathways across the main functional domains relevant to both ISRU and BLSS, treated as operationally distinct but architecturally coupled subsystems within a broader resource-management framework. We discuss the main functional domains required for human settlement, spanning external resource conversion (O2, CO2, H2, CH4, H2O, materials, manufacturing, energy) and internal regenerative functions (food production, air and H2O revitalization, and waste recycling). For each domain, we describe representative abiotic (e.g., MOXIE, ROXY, molten-regolith electrolysis, fission surface power, and advanced solar arrays) and biotic systems, for both ISRU-relevant bioprocesses (e.g., biomining, biopolymer production) and BLSS components (e.g., plant-growth and microbial recycling loops). The most realistic path toward sustainable human settlements beyond Earth orbit lies in coupled ISRU-BLSS architectures in which external resource acquisition and internal regenerative loops are coordinated across shared material and energy flows.