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The Columbus Orbital Facility (COLUMBUS) is the main European contribution to the ISS. Its Temperature and Humidity Control (THC) subsystem consists of the Condensing Heat Exchanger and Filter Assembly (CHXFA), the Condensate Water Separator Assembly (CWSA) and the Cabin Temperature Control Unit (CTCU). The paper provides a description of the THC subsystem and its equipment focusing on the humidity removal function which has shown to be the major design challenge. Design solutions have been realised by optimising all equipment of the THC with respect to its system needs. Test results both on equipment and on THC subsystem level are presented demonstrating that the humidity removal performance is adequate to meet the system requirements in the wide operational range of COLUMBUS.

The Crew Refrigerator/Freezer Racks (RFR) are being developed and built at Astrium Friedrichshafen under ESA contract. The RFR will provide conditioned storage volume for astronaut food during transport in the MPLM and on board the ISS. To support the design of the RFR a thermal model has been established at Astrium in the early project phase using the ESATAN software which is the ESA standard thermal analysis tool. This model has been extended to allow full operational simulation of the RFR during a typical mission scenario. For demonstrating the capabilities of EcosimPro, a state of the art tool to address Environmental Control and Life Support analysis, the same model is built up with EcosimPro. The results are validated by comparing them to those from the ESATAN simulation.

In 1995 the European Space Agency did award a C/D Contract for the design & development of an ECLS Subsystem for the Multi Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) to Astrium’s ECLS ‘Center of Competence’ that built the ECLSS for Spacelab already. Actually first MPLM modules were successfully flown to the ISS with the Astrium built ECLSS qualified as ‘excellent’ by the crew having asked permission to sleep in there. In parallel the design and development of an ECLS for Europe’s Columbus module did commence and is actually close to completion. In view of the above a broad set of qualified and even space proven ECLS equipment is now ‘on-hands’ to thoroughly compose respectively derive the ECLS subsystems of future applications e.g. HabModule, CRV and Space Hotel at a limited delta design and validation effort thus fitting into the tighter financial budgets of the manned space programs to come.