The European Space Agency (ESA) has outlined an ambitious vision for human settlements in space by 2040, with autonomous “space oases” on the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

A new ESA report envisions that within 15 years, humans could live in independent space habitats in low Earth orbit, on the Moon, on Mars, and even farther into deep space. These “space oases” would be fully self-sufficient, meeting their own energy and food needs - eliminating the need to transport supplies from Earth.

According to ESA experts, the next stage of human space exploration will focus on longer missions and reaching more distant locations. Success will depend on developing infrastructure that is not reliant on Earth.

“This is an exciting vision,” the report states, “but achieving it in just 15 years will require major advancements.”

NASA and SpaceX, for example, have plans to send humans to Mars in the next two decades, but existing spacecraft are not yet capable of such missions.

ESA’s concept emphasizes that building space infrastructure independent of Earth is key to long-term exploration and sustainable living beyond our planet.

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