The Tara Polaris I, a laboratory-observatory developed by the Tara Ocean Foundation, is beginning its first mission into drifting ice in the Arctic Ocean, ESA reported on 9 September 2026. A crew of a dozen scientists, sailors, a media professional and a physician will stay aboard for eight months, much of it without seeing the Sun. The long polar night will last 120 days, with average winter temperatures of −25°C.

ESA sees the drifting station as a chance to study human behaviour under conditions resembling long-duration spaceflight. The crew underwent the same psychological screening given to teams at the Concordia station in Antarctica. ESA is contributing questionnaires on sleep, stress and cognitive performance, and scientists plan to compare the sea-level conditions at Tara with the reduced oxygen and air pressure at Concordia, which sits 3223 m above sea level. Melike Balk, ESA's science coordinator, said moving sea ice adds uncertainty and psychological stress compared with a winter-over at the stationary base.

ESA and the Tara Polaris consortium are also exploring an Earth observation partnership. During the first drift, ESA will share the times and paths of satellites passing over the vessel — Copernicus Sentinel-3, EarthCare and Cryosat — so the crew can compare ground measurements with orbital data. Tara Polaris I is the first of ten research drifts planned over the next 20 years. The crew will finish the first wintering leg in April 2027, and the 27-metre vessel is expected to return to France by the end of next year, passing between Svalbard and Greenland.