Six so-called "analogue astronauts" from different nations plan to gather knowledge for a potential stay on Mars during a four-week simulation.
The Austrian Space Forum (ÖWF) announced at the start of the mission on Tuesday that a test site had been set up in Armenia for this purpose.
"This expedition is the authentic test run for the astronautical exploration of the Red Planet and will be led by a special Mission Support Centre in Austria," it said.
The crew consists of highly qualified members from the fields of geology and robotics, among others, and is led by German health expert Anika Mehlis.
The analogue astronauts live in a specially developed habitat and can only leave these rooms in ÖWF spacesuit prototypes.
More than 200 researchers from 25 countries are reportedly involved in the Austrian-led project. It is already the 14th Mars analogue mission of the Austrian Space Fund. It is due to last until April 5.
According to the ÖWF, it is one of five organizations worldwide to have developed and built a spacesuit prototype for stays on Mars.
According to ÖWF Director Gernot Grömer, the 50-kilogram suit is equipped with medical telemetry and makes any movement more difficult so that the space missions feel as much like being on Mars as possible. "With our analogue research, we test and search for weak points so that everything goes smoothly during the actual mission."