---
title: "Check Out This Amazing Design for an Underwater “Space Station”"
description: "Fabien Cousteau, the grandson of legendary ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau, wants to build the equivalent of the International Space Station (ISS) — but several leagues under the sea, as CNN reports. With the help of industrial designer Yves Béhar, Cosuteau unveiled his bold ambition: a 4,000 square foot  lab called Proteus that could offer a […]"
date: "2020-07-22"
modified: "2020-07-22"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/check-out-this-amazing-design-for-an-underwater-space-station"
categories:
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "ocean exploration"
  - "ocean floor"
  - "underwater"
  - "underwater base"
---

# Check Out This Amazing Design for an Underwater “Space Station”

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/proteus-1.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Courtesy Proteus/Yves Béhar/Fuseproject\</em\>*

Fabien Cousteau, the grandson of legendary ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau, wants to build the equivalent of the International Space Station (ISS) — but on the ocean floor deep below the surface, as [*CNN* reports](<https://www.cnn.com/style/article/proteus-designs-underwater-space-station-research-center-scn/index.html>).

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/proteus-4.jpg>)
*All images: Courtesy Proteus/Yves Béhar/Fuseproject*

With the help of industrial designer Yves Béhar, Cosuteau unveiled his bold ambition: a 4,000 square foot lab called Proteus that could offer a team of up to 12 researchers from all over the world easy access to the ocean floor. The plan is to build it in just three years.

The most striking design element of their vision is a number of bubble-like protruding pods, extending from two circular structures stacked on top of each other. Each pod is envisioned to be assigned a different purpose, ranging from medical bays to laboratories and personal quarters.

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/proteus-3.jpg>)

"We wanted it to be new and different and inspiring and futuristic," Béhar told *CNN*. "So \[we looked\] at everything from science fiction to modular housing to Japanese pod \[hotels\]."

The team claims Proteus will feature the world's first underwater greenhouse, intended for growing food for whoever is stationed there.

Power will come from wind, thermal, and solar energy.

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/proteus-2.jpg>)

"Ocean exploration is 1,000 times more important than space exploration for — selfishly — our survival, for our trajectory into the future," Cousteau told *CNN*. "It's our life support system. It is the very reason why we exist in the first place."

Space exploration gets vastly more funding than its oceanic counterpart, according to *CNN*, despite the fact that humans have only explored about five percent of the Earth's oceans — and mapped only 20 percent.

The Proteus would only join one other permanent underwater habitat, the Aquarius off the coast of Florida, which has been used by NASA to [simulate the lunar surface](<https://futurism.com/nasa-underwater-habitat-moon>).

**READ MORE:** [Ambitious designs for underwater 'space station' and habitat unveiled](<https://www.cnn.com/style/article/proteus-designs-underwater-space-station-research-center-scn/index.html>) \[*CNN*\]

**More on underwater bases:** *[NASA is Using This Underwater Lab to Train Astronauts for the Moon](<https://futurism.com/nasa-underwater-habitat-moon>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)