Lockheed Martin’s Starlab is one of several private space stations currently proposed. The company hopes to have it built by 2027. Credit: Nanoracks
The era of the International Space Station (ISS) is coming to an end. In the near future, NASA plans to shoot down the station during a controlled deorbit. The end of the ISS will leave a large gap in human spaceflight, although China’s Tiangong space station is currently active. However, to make a space pun, nature hates a vacuum. Many companies are actively working on creating the next generation of manned space stations to maintain human presence in space. Crucially, these will be privately owned and operated by a variety of commercial entities. This represents a significant departure from government-owned and operated space stations of the past, such as Skylab or the ISS. Here are some updates on the key players in this rapidly developing field.
Vast
Long Beach, California-based Vast has partnered closely with Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Vast has plans for both simple and complex space station projects and clearly aims to collaborate with private industry. Their initial offering is known as Haven. Haven is somewhat reminiscent of the first Russian Salyut space stations in that the entire station is put into low Earth orbit by a single rocket, in this case a Falcon 9 launch vehicle. Once in orbit, a Falcon 9 launched separately with a Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying up to four astronauts would dock at Haven for a stay of up to 30 days. It’s unclear who Vast is targeting for stays aboard Haven, as the company’s website appears to do, seeking to attract both potential space tourists and those interested in carrying out medical or scientific research in orbit. Haven promises 24-hour access to Wi-Fi (via SpaceX’s Starlink satellites) and at least one large observation window. Haven can potentially be rotated to produce artificial gravity as well. High hopes to begin Haven launch in 2025.
Vast is also planning to build a much larger space station, known as Haven-2. The main module is a larger version of their Haven station, with two docking ports, significantly larger volume, and several large windows. Extensive plans to ultimately connect multiple Haven-2 modules in a row. Beyond that, Vast hopes to one day develop a station made up of eight Haven-2 modules, built around a central hub.
Blue Origin
Not to be left out, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin is developing its own private space station, known as Orbital Reef. Recipient of $130 million in the form of a NASA development contract, Blue Origin is thinking big. Together with several corporate partners, including Sierra Space, Orbital Reef is expected to be a large facility, although exact dimensions are not available at this time. Built from many different modules that could be launched aboard Blue Origin’s New Glenn heavy-lift launch vehicle (which has yet to fly), Orbital Reef would contain a mix of areas for researchers to work in and for space tourists. Interestingly, some of the modules planned for Orbital Reef would be inflatable, thus reducing launch mass, simplifying construction, and enabling the creation of large-volume modules. Blue Origin says it intends to provide crew and cargo transportation via Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, although recent events could force a rethink of that plan. Blue Origin also hopes Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser spaceplane (which has yet to fly) will visit Orbital Reef. Various module configurations are available online, and it is unclear what the final form of the station would be. It seems likely that some modules could be moved from one station location to another to allow for different configurations after initial assembly.
Related: A look at New Glenn’s heavy-lift booster rocket: Blue Origin
Space of axioms
Axiom Space is a large private spaceflight company headquartered in Houston. Axiom Space has organized three private spaceflights to the ISS with a fourth mission planned to follow. These flights used a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule launched by a Falcon 9 rocket.
When it comes to space stations, Axiom Space has a lot of irons in the fire. In 2020, NASA awarded Axiom Space $140 million to develop a commercial module to be part of the ISS. The segment, known as Axiom Station, could potentially serve as a location for commercial astronauts to conduct research in the microgravity environment. The Axiom Station is currently under construction in Turin, Italy, by Thales Alenia Space, a private manufacturing company.
Given that Axiom Station would be added to the ISS relatively close to the end of the station’s overall construction, Axiom Space also planned to then potentially use the module as a building block for its own private, independent space station or possibly build a second one. , identical module that acts as a basic block. Axiom Space is also evaluating adding other modules to the ISS, some of which could potentially be reused in parts of a future independent Axiom Space station. Some of these planned modules include an inflatable structure, an additional habitation module, a research module, and a large energy transfer module connected to a massive solar panel. In theory, all of these modules could interconnect in space and serve as a private, large, independent space station.
Axiom Space has what can be called ambitious plans and have made good progress with their first module. Completed flights to the ISS give them “credence” that many other private spaceflight companies do not have.
Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin, in collaboration with Nanoracks and Voyager Space, is working to develop its own commercial free-flying space station, known as Starlab. Starlab is relatively early in its development, and the station’s design specifications have changed over time. Currently, Starlab is planned in two modules. The first is an unmanned service module that will provide propulsion and power to the entire station via a large solar panel. The second, tentatively called the habitation module, is where astronauts would live and work. In some documents on Starlab, it was reported that the habitation module is inflatable. Unlike other private modules or space stations, Starlab was designed as a payload for SpaceX’s Starship/Super Heavy launch system, given its proposed large size and diameter.
The future is now
Given all this development of private space stations, one cannot help but be reminded of Stanley Kubrick’s famous scene 2001: A Space Odyssey where, en route to the Moon, a commercial Pan Am clipper spaceplane passes by Three other space stations en route to a large rotating commercial space station (complete with a Howard Johnson restaurant). Kubrick may not have been too far off the mark.
It seems likely that one or more of these commercial space stations will make it into orbit. If this were to happen, it would usher in an entirely new era of human spaceflight. Private companies will transport astronauts and private researchers to private space stations, without government ownership or day-to-day oversight of their activities (although general regulation is likely). Such a reality could arrive sooner than we think and will likely only increase the pace of growth and development of the space station.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly referred to Axiom Space as simply “Axiom.” Additionally, it was falsely stated that Axiom Station would accept space tourists.
