MIT Space Exploration Initiative

MIT's Space Exploration Initiative (SEI) is a multidisciplinary research program at the MIT Media Lab founded in 2016, bringing together engineers, scientists, designers, artists, and social scientists to collectively envision and prototype humanity's future as a space-faring civilization — spanning over 40 concurrent projects that range from microgravity food production systems through space architecture and habitat design to extraterrestrial musical instruments and cosmic art installations. SEI's founding philosophy is that the challenges of long-duration human spaceflight — social isolation, confined habitats, psychological well-being, cultural continuity — require contributions from the humanities and arts alongside engineering, not after it. The initiative regularly flies experiments and participants on parabolic aircraft flights, high-altitude balloon missions, and ISS research payloads. Past projects include: Cephalopod in Space (studying cephalopod development in microgravity), culinary experiments exploring space food culture, wearable technologies designed for microgravity ergonomics, musical instrument designs optimized for pressurized habitat acoustics, and social dynamics research on isolated crew groups with applications to long-duration interplanetary missions. SEI also co-develops technical projects including CubeSat experiments, life support research, and space architecture concepts for habitats on the Moon and Mars. The program attracts MIT Media Lab's characteristically interdisciplinary student and researcher mix — including artists, interaction designers, and behavioral scientists alongside engineers — making it unlike any other space research program in the world. SEI collaborates with NASA, ESA, and commercial companies including SpaceX on research access and has produced alumni who work across the commercial and government space sectors.