Modern space exploration missions, such as planetary exploration of Mars, have significantly different tribological concerns compared to conditions faced by mechanical devices in satellites. Space lubricants have traditionally implied extremely low vapor pressure, but limited performance in boundary lubrication. Mars devices on the other hand are subjected to heavier loads, while operating in an atmosphere composed of CO₂ at <1 kPa. Ionic liquids are synthetic fluids with inherently low vapor pressure that are known to readily form boundary films under severe conditions. In an effort to improve the tribological performance of ILs, hydrocarbon-mimicking ionic liquids have recently been designed. This recent work has displayed significantly improved lubrication performance for steel – steel tribo-systems in air, compared to PFPEs or fluorine-based ILs. Also, as a consequence of the hydrocarbon-mimicking structure, compatibility with several conventional tribo-improving additives have been displayed. In this work, we evaluate these novel fluids in a reduced oxygen environment under boundary lubricated conditions to evaluate the effect of oxygen supply on boundary film formation.