The international space station has been orbiting the earth for over 20 years. A symbol of US-Russian cooperation post-Cold War, the space station is starting to look a little worse for wear after decades in the harsh environment of space. A general consensus is that the ISS will be able to keep flying until 2028 or 2030. The question becomes – what next?
US-Russia relations continue ebbing lower (including some wild accusations being thrown back and forth in space) and China launched its own Tiangong space station in April. The pressure is now on NASA to avoid a gap in space. As the US private space industry is maturing, NASA is planning to allow the private sector to compete to develop a space station and will become an “anchor tenant” – NASA astronauts will be the first renters in space.
There are three companies competing to the be first landlords in space. The first is Houston-based Axiom Space, who have been talking for years about developing the world’s first “commercial space station”. But recently, two other options have emerged – Lockheed Martin and Nanoracks announced plans to build a space station called “Starlab” and a second team led by Blue Origin and Sierra Space plan to contruct an “Orbital Reef”. This article takes a look at the three competing bidders and their respective plans. If NASA want to avoid a gap in low-earth orbit, they will need to start making decisions and appropriating money now for a 2028 launch timeline. So expect to hear more about this story (and probably read some Elon Musk tweets as well).
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