King's College London and the Norwegian space technology company Nåva Space have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a strategic collaboration in human physiology, spacesuit systems, and technologies that allow humans to operate in extreme environments.
The agreement brings together researchers in the Centre for Human & Applied Physiological Sciences at King's and Nåva Space, a company developing next-generation spacesuit and life-support systems. The collaboration aims to advance research, education, and innovation at the intersection of human health, performance, and operational system design.
Designing systems based on human needs and capabilities
The collaboration is founded on a shared belief that closer scientific interaction, cultural exchange, and cooperative research can accelerate the creation of new knowledge and the development of technologies that support humans operating in the most demanding environments, both in space and on Earth.
Through the MoU, King's and Nåva Space intend to develop joint activities spanning human health and performance, pressure and atmospheric environments, space-suited and unsuited movement, human systems integration, and human-robot co-working, with a particular focus on using advanced spacesuit systems as research platforms.
As the NASA-led Artemis programme looks to return humans to the Moon, this is an exciting venture to be part of. It supports the development of the first generation of European spacesuits and contributes to the development of sovereign European capability in human spaceflight.
Dr Peter D. Hodkinson, Director of the Spacesuit Physiology Laboratory at King's College London
Collaboration under the MoU will support the development of joint research activities and funding proposals across a range of interlinked themes, including:
- Monitoring the body and mind, and the application of AI for predictive health and performance systems
- How humans manage and regulate body temperature in different environments (thermal physiology) and advanced thermal control garments
- Full-pressure suit garments and portable life-support systems
- Integration, development, testing, and certification of spacesuits used inside and outside of a spacecraft, and their connected systems
Together, these themes address the full lifecycle of 'human-centred systems,' which ensure technologies are designed based on the needs and capabilities of humans. The work will cover physiological requirements and system design through testing, certification, training, and operational use. These ambitions align closely with the European Space Agency Explore 2040 and Technology 2040 visions.
From a strategic standpoint, the chosen themes are not coincidental. These are real, unsolved problems and represent only the beginning of a collaboration that will expand over time.
Nima J. Shahinian, Chairman of the Board at Nåva
A central pillar of the collaboration is a dual-use approach, recognising that technologies developed for space exploration often have direct relevance to applications on Earth.
Research conducted under the MoU is expected to inform future space missions and defence applications, as well as industrial, medical, and civil uses. These include human performance in hazardous environments, emergency response, climate-related heat exposure, and advanced protective systems.
"The combination of industry-led technology development and academic scientific partnership offers significant potential for terrestrial benefits, particularly in the context of climate change," Dr Hodkinson said. "It also offers potential for supporting UK and European defence through dual-use applications during a period of heightened geo-political uncertainty."
By explicitly addressing both space and non-space contexts, the collaboration aims to maximise the societal and operational impact of the work, ensuring that advances in human physiology and systems engineering benefit a wide range of sectors.
A signed MoU between King's and Nåva links innovative ideas with groundbreaking evidence-based science - leading to solutions for real-world problems.
Jarle Steinberg, CTO at Nåva
