Female reproductive health in long-duration space missions: a narrative review of current challenges

Abstract

Female reproductive health represents a critical dimension of long-duration spaceflight. This narrative review examined the impacts of space exposure, prolonged microgravity, cosmic radiation, and circadian rhythm disruption on female fertility and maternal-fetal health during space missions. A search was conducted in high-impact databases, and gray literature was also considered. The available evidence suggests that microgravity and radiation could suppress progesterone levels, reduce the ovarian reserve, or induce a nonreceptive endometrial phenotype