Astroland has developed and operates the first permanent Mars cave analog extreme environment in a real cave near Santander, Spain, which has a max height of 60 m and a length of 1.5 km. Completely isolated from external interferences, the cave hosts Astroland’s own Martian analog habitat, named Ares Station, fully equipped to enable to test EtE missions concepts: Research laboratories, made-to-measure astronaut suits, technical clothing for the various missions, hydroponics lab, autonomous power and water production systems, 3D printers, kitchen, leisure areas, gym, survival kits, food supplies specifically adapted for each crew member, plus the provision to expand modules.

All the field operations on (simulated) Mars are monitored and supported from a dedicated Mission Control Center located in Santander, enabling the implementation of different levels of autonomy for the crew and the support of a wide team of SMEs if needed.

After 15 tests campaigns and 2 main missions, Astroland’s concept and infrastructure has achieved the maturity level to support long duration research analog missions to test and validate technology and operations roadmaps, as well as to establish a research hub for international cooperation.