Human spaceflight systems
Supporting ISS and future commercial destination ECLS work, including operations, sustaining engineering, and mission support products.
Aerospace Engineer · Human Spaceflight · ECLSS
Designing systems for long-duration human spaceflight.
I’m Leon Chen, Ph.D., an aerospace engineer and NASA ISS / CLDP ECLS Subsystem Manager at The Aerospace Corporation. My work focuses on Environmental Control and Life Support Systems, human spaceflight operations, future commercial destinations, and model-based systems engineering.
Current work
NASA ISS and CLDP ECLS leadership
Core domains
ECLSS, space habitats, MBSE
This site
Writing, projects, and research notes
What I work on
From operational ECLSS to future habitat design
I work across engineering analysis, contractor coordination, systems architecture, and research-driven design, with an emphasis on practical decisions that support crewed missions.
Space habitats and vehicles
Exploring habitat configuration, resilience, lunar systems, and system-level trades for long-duration missions and in-space transportation.
MBSE and analysis
Applying model-based systems engineering, decision analysis, and trade studies to manage complexity in aerospace systems.
Experience snapshot
A cross-sector background in aerospace engineering
My experience includes leadership in ISS/CLDP ECLS, Georgia Tech doctoral research, SpaceX ECLSS work, NASA/Boeing operations support, and Air Force systems engineering. That mix shapes how I think about operational constraints, design maturity, and future architectures.
The Aerospace Corporation
NASA ISS / CLDP ECLS Subsystem Manager, overseeing technical progress, contractor activity, mission support, and subsystem risk reduction.
Georgia Tech
Ph.D. and M.S. research in space habitats, MBSE, lunar systems, in-space vehicles, and satellite constellations; now also serving as AE Mentor in Residence.
SpaceX and NASA / Boeing
Hands-on work in Crew Dragon fire suppression, Starship air revitalization analysis, ISS ECLSS operations, and MERLIN console leadership.
Recent writing
Notes, posts, and technical reflections
Sample Post - Markdown Syntax
This is a sample post testing and demonstrating all the markdown syntaxes. In the description you can also use markdowns to do *A* **B** ***C*** and `D` and other stuff like a [link](https://yk-liu.github.io).
Build Your Blog with GitHub Pages
Build Your Blog with GitHub Pages. This is a sketch of how to use my theme `PointingToTheMoon` to write your blog. This theme is great for academic use, for it features simple post page with mathjax support and a side bar with toc. The main page on the other hand is somewhat fancy.
Let’s connect
Interested in human spaceflight, ECLSS, or systems engineering?
I use this site to share work at the intersection of engineering practice and future mission design.