The Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture (SICSA) is a research and design organization within the University of Houston. SICSA brings more than 30 years of internationally recognized experience in habitat research, planning and design for space and extreme terrestrial environments. Such settings share many urgent problems and issues. They typically impose logistic transport challenges for people, equipment and supplies; present severe facility construction and operational constraints; demand careful attention to habitability, performance and safety under isolated, confined conditions; and heavily rely upon all practical means to optimize energy-efficient, ecologically-responsible strategies. Terrestrial planning applications include remote oil and gas exploration/production camps; emergency natural disaster response operations and shelters; and rapid military troop deployment accommodations for harsh, undeveloped locales.
We are academic leaders in the field of space architecture and are also active in planning and design of facilities for extreme environments on Earth. Included are ocean facilities, polar research stations and human disaster accommodations. We hosted a large international and interdisciplinary conference dealing with these topics with 400+ attendees from 12 countries. We offer the world’s only space architecture graduate program which grants a Master of Science-Space Architecture degree with participants that include professionals from NASA and major aerospace corporations along with international students. Our projects and programs have been featured in television and magazine productions throughout the world. SICSA’s clients and affiliates include NASA and numerous other leading aerospace and advanced technology organizations.