Lunares officially acquired software testing capabilities by partnering with Testspring and joining AstraLabs

In a move that signals a shift in how we validate space technologies, Lunares Research Station — Europe’s leading analog mission facility — has officially acquired software testing capabilities through a new partnership with Testspring, and by extension, has joined the emerging AstraLabs ecosystem.

Lunares and Testspring aim to redefine what “tested” means in the context of space.

Switching Lab to the analog Regolith: Why This Matters

For decades, software testing has taken place in climate-controlled offices, on desks cluttered with coffee mugs and ethernet cables. But the truth is: real-world performance can’t be simulated through code alone. It must be exposed to pressure, fatigue, edge cases, latency, confusion, and even boredom. That’s what analog environments like Lunares are built for.

By integrating Testspring’s expertise in quality control and test frameworks into Lunares' high-fidelity simulation environments, this partnership brings software under the same scrutiny traditionally reserved for humans and hardware. Interfaces, protocols, fail-safes — all will now be stress-tested not just functionally, but contextually. This also allows lunares to include standard or custom-built software test environments, which can be used during the mission.

Multi-Sector Collaboration is crucial for the new Space chapter.

This initiative highlights that no single sector holds all the answers.

• Lunares brings the environment — isolation, procedure, communication delay, and operational stress.

• Testspring brings the methods — precision testing, software behaviour analysis, and quality-first culture.

• AstraLabs connects the dots — building the infrastructure where these sectors not only coexist but also amplify each other.

It’s the kind of partnership the space sector needs more of: grounded in utility, guided by vision, executed with mutual respect.

Why “Real” Matters

When we test software in the comfort of the lab, we test convenience. When we test software during an analog mission, we test truth.

Delays are real. Interfaces matter. Procedures strain. What looked fine on Figma or passed CI/CD might not survive a 3-hour EVA under partial comms blackout and low blood sugar. And that’s the point.

The analog environment exposes real risks.

This collaboration ensures that the systems we count on in orbit are no longer tested in isolation from the context in which they’re meant to perform.

Important step for AstraLabs ecosystem.

For AstraLabs, this partnership marks a significant milestone. It validates the vision: to build a complete testing ecosystem that bridges early concept, analog fieldwork, and space-native deployment.

This step pulls testing out of theory and into orbit-adjacent readiness, one that reflects the true complexity of space operations. The future of validation isn’t isolated. It’s connected, iterative, and deeply human.

As the lines blur between Earth and orbit, between concept and execution, this partnership reminds us:

To build the future, we must test it as if it were real. Because it is.