Bheem Moon Habitat: How India Plans to Build a Home on the Lunar Surface

India is exploring what a future human habitat on the Moon could look like through Bheem, an expandable modular habitat concept developed by researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, with Indian astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla among those involved.

Bheem, short for Bhartiya Extraterrestrial Expandable Modular Habitat, is designed around panels that could be transported in a compact form and assembled after reaching an extraterrestrial destination. Its modular architecture could also allow additional sections to be added as a lunar settlement grows.

The challenge, however, goes far beyond designing a structure. A lunar habitat would have to protect astronauts from radiation, extreme temperature changes, micrometeoroids and lunar dust while providing breathable air, water, food, electricity and dependable life-support systems.

The concept emerged from a basic question: if Indian astronauts eventually travel to the Moon, where would they live? Shukla has been involved in research into technologies for human habitation beyond Earth, with the focus extending from simply reaching the Moon to sustaining human life there.

One of Bheem's key ideas is to address the limited space available inside launch vehicles. A habitat that can be transported in a compact configuration and expanded after landing could make more efficient use of launch capacity. Modular construction could also make it easier to adapt or replace individual sections.

However, the habitat itself would only be one component of a much larger lunar infrastructure. Future missions could rely on in-situ resource utilisation, or ISRU, which means using resources found on the Moon instead of transporting everything from Earth.

Lunar regolith, or Moon soil, is one potential resource. Researchers at IISc and ISRO have previously explored experimental space bricks using lunar soil simulants, bacteria and other materials. Such technologies could eventually reduce the quantity of construction material that needs to be transported from Earth.

A real lunar construction programme would require robots capable of collecting and processing regolith, autonomous or remotely operated manufacturing systems, reliable energy supplies and equipment capable of operating in the Moon's vacuum and extreme temperatures. Local materials could potentially be used for structural purposes or as additional radiation shielding around habitats.

Water is another critical resource. Besides supporting human life, it can potentially be separated into oxygen and hydrogen, which could have applications in breathing systems and rocket propellant. India's Chandrayaan-3 mission has contributed to understanding the lunar environment, including conditions relevant to future exploration of water ice and other resources.

Finding lunar resources, however, is different from being able to extract and use them. A sustainable settlement would require technologies to locate, recover, purify and integrate water into life-support systems.

The habitat would also need to function as a sophisticated life-support machine. Water recycling, oxygen and carbon dioxide management, power generation, thermal control, environmental monitoring, food systems and emergency backups would all have to work together reliably.

Before such technology reaches the Moon, it would need extensive testing on Earth. Deserts, high-altitude regions and isolated research facilities can act as analog environments for studying the technical and human challenges associated with long-duration habitation.

Bheem would also depend on a transportation system capable of carrying substantial cargo and eventually astronauts to the Moon. India's current human-spaceflight efforts are focused on Gaganyaan and crewed missions in Earth orbit. A lunar settlement would require additional capabilities, including heavy-lift launch systems, deep-space transportation, large-capacity lunar landers and autonomous construction equipment.

Robots could potentially be deployed before astronauts arrive to unload, position and assemble habitat components and prepare the surrounding infrastructure.

For now, Bheem remains a concept rather than an operational lunar construction project. India does not yet have a mission carrying Bheem habitat panels to the Moon or robots ready to assemble them there. Moving from the design stage to an actual lunar habitat would require further research, development, testing and funding.

Nevertheless, the concept represents an effort to think beyond simply reaching the Moon. The larger challenge is developing the infrastructure and technologies needed to make sustained human presence on another world possible.