International Space Health Research Collaboration (ISHRC)

Human physiology is finely adapted to the environmental conditions of Earth, including its gravity, magnetic field, atmosphere and natural light spectrum. When humans travel into space, these conditions change dramatically, placing stress on biological systems. Research has traditionally focused on two major hazards:

• Microgravity
• Radiation

These factors contribute to well-known health issues experienced by astronauts, including bone loss, muscle atrophy, immune changes and vision problems such as Spaceflight-Associated Neuro-ocular Syndrome (SANS).

However, recent research – including work from The Guy Foundation – suggests that other environmental factors will also play an important role, particularly during missions beyond low Earth orbit (LEO). These include:

• Hypomagnetic fields, extremely weak magnetic fields in deep space
• Altered light environments, particularly the lack of near-infrared wavelengths inside spacecraft

These factors have received relatively little attention but will become increasingly important during long-duration missions to the Moon, Mars and deep space, where natural magnetic protection is minimal.

Evidence from astronaut studies suggests that the conditions found in space can induce an accelerated ageing phenotype, associated with disruption of cellular bioenergetics. A key factor appears to be mitochondrial dysfunction. Mitochondria play a central role in cellular energy production and redox balance, and their impairment may contribute to many space-related health problems, including fatigue, metabolic disturbances and immune dysregulation. Understanding how the space environment affects mitochondrial function is therefore a major focus for the ISHRC programme.

To find out more, see The Guy Foundation’s report ‘The health hazards of space travel: novel insights from quantum biology’ or watch a short explanatory video by Geoffrey Guy.

Over recent years, The Guy Foundation and our global collaborators have been investigating previously under-recognised health risks associated with missions beyond Earth’s protective magnetosphere. Our work highlights the interaction of microgravity, radiation exposure, negligible magnetic fields, altered light spectra and circadian disruption, and the potential for these combined stressors to drive accelerated ageing phenotypes and earlier onset of chronic disease. Our latest findings support the view that the multi factor space health deterioration effect represents both a potentially serious health risk and liability for astronauts venturing into deep space. Understanding the mechanisms and how to mitigate them will be essential for the goals in deep space to be realised.

As the global space sector grows – including plans for lunar bases, Mars missions and commercial space travel – understanding space health risks is becoming increasingly urgent.

Important challenges include:

• Long-duration missions to deep space: data suggest that health risks will increase significantly beyond low Earth orbit due to the changing physical environment (e.g. absence of magnetic fields) and the longer duration spent in space. Maintaining astronaut health will be critical for deep-space mission success.
• Insurance, liability and regulation: there is currently limited long-term data on astronaut health. As astronaut numbers grow, insurance and liability risks are inevitably increasing. Data will be required for the development of health standards for human spaceflight.
• Space tourism: the health impacts of space are likely to be more profound in space travellers who are older and less physically robust than career astronauts.

To address these challenges, The Guy Foundation is establishing the International Space Health Research Collaboration (ISHRC).
This global not-for-profit collaboration is bringing together researchers, space agencies, industry and policymakers to advance understanding of space health and develop practical solutions.

The collaboration aims to:

• conduct vital novel interdisciplinary research on the biological and health effects of the space environment
• identify and test countermeasures to protect astronaut health
• support international collaboration and knowledge sharing
• help develop global health standards and regulatory frameworks for human spaceflight
• translate insights from space research to improve health on Earth

Research on space health also offers valuable insights for medicine on Earth. Spaceflight provides a powerful model for studying metabolic stress and accelerated ageing, helping scientists better understand disease and human resilience.

By applying new perspectives from quantum biology and bioenergetics, the International Space Health Research Collaboration (ISHRC) aims to advance both safe human space exploration and medical science on Earth.

The Guy Foundation’s report ‘The health hazards of space travel: novel insights from quantum biology’ – available here.

‘The health hazards of space travel’ - a short explanatory video by Geoffrey Guy.

Publication in Nature Microgravity: Nunn A, Bell J and Guy G. Are we trapped on Earth: space and accelerated ageing. npj Microgravity. 2025 – available here.

2026 Spring Series on Magnetic Fields and Biology – the lecture programme and talk recordings are available here.

2023 Autumn Series on Space Health – in the six sessions we covered topics ranging from established research on radiation and microgravity to less well-developed areas of investigation, such as magnetic fields and quantum gravity. The Proceedings and talk recordings are available here.

Special online Space Health symposium (February 2023) - the Proceedings and talk recordings are available here.