Could this egg-shaped structure be what the future home of Indian astronauts in space looks like?

The Hab-1 – short for Habitat-1 – is Indian space agency Isro’s first-ever “analog mission” which means simulation of space conditions to prepare astronauts for real space missions. It was recently tested for three weeks in the high Himalayan mountains of Ladakh.

Space architect Aastha Kacha-Jhala, from Gujarat-based firm Aaka, told the BBC that these simulations help identify and address issues astronauts and equipment might face before space missions.

Built with space-grade Teflon and insulated with industrial-use foam, Hab-1 has a bed, a stowaway tray which can be pulled out and used as a workstation, storage space to keep supplies and emergency kits, a kitchenette for heating meals and a toilet. An astronaut in simulation spent three weeks holed up in the facility.

“Hab-1 is designed keeping in mind that space is going to be very limited on the Moon or Mars,” Ms Kacha-Jhala says. “The astronaut will also have very limited water so we designed a dry toilet. We also put in place a system for a proper disposal of waste and ensured that the habitat remained odour-free.”

She is now in talks with Isro to build India’s first permanent simulation space facility in Ladak

The mission comes at a time when India is preparing to send its first astronauts into space.

Isro’s Gaganyaan mission plans to place three astronauts into low-Earth orbit at an altitude of 400km (248 miles) for three days. If all goes according to plan, the mission will launch sometime next year. India also plans to set up its first space station by 2035 and send a man to the Moon by 2040.

Nasa, European Space Agency, Russia, China and other countries and private firms with space programmes run dozens of simulation missions and two of the four Indian astronauts selected for the Gaganyaan mission are being trained at Nasa at the moment.

“Once we have our own simulation mission, we won’t have to depend on foreign space agencies to train our astronauts,” says Prof Subrat Sharma, Dean of Research Studies at Ladakh University which collaborated on the project.

Ladakh, he told the BBC, was chosen for the experiment because “from a geographical perspective, its rocky, barren landscape and soil have similarities with the material and rocks found on Mars and some parts of the lunar terrain which make it ideal for space research”.

The soil samples collected during the mission are being tested by the university to see if astronauts will be able to use locally-sourced materials to build homes in space.