Concurrent design of scientific crewed space habitats and their supporting logistics system

This paper develops a problem formulation that can be applied to the integrated space-station system design. The integrated space-station optimization formulation combines both a space habitat and its supporting logistics design into one single optimization problem. In this way, a space-based habitat and its logistics resupply system can be designed concurrently, and effective trades can be conducted between them. Numerical results show the benefits of the proposed problem formulation, comparing it with conventional design strategies. Data from the 2012 International Space Station reference configuration are used to develop four cases, each emphasizing a different mix of scientific experiments in orbit.