The International Space Station is aging. According to one estimate, the ISS has only ten years left, at best, before it has to retire or undergo a major renovation in order to continue service. With monumental change now in sight, an entire industry has cropped up around providing the possibilities.<\/p>\n
Future-minded space entrepreneurs are dreaming big to find a solution to this problem, floating creative proposals such as 3D-printing tools in space to do repair work,modifying dead rocket stages into space labs, and building a new space station from scratch.<\/p>\n
The latest and most radical plan comes from a four-year-old startup called Axiom Space. Based in Houston, Texas, just a stones throw from NASAs Johnson Space Center, the company was founded by NASAs former ISS manager Michael Suffredini (from 2005 to 2015). Its plan is to build a commercial space station on its own, with the first module to launch as soon as 2024.<\/p>\n
To be sure, the initial versions of these space modules, dubbed AxStation, wont be on the same scale as the ISS we have now. The one set to launch by 2024 will be a crew module attached to the existing ISS. Axiom plans to launch at least two similar modulesincluding a lab and a panoramic observatoryin the following year.<\/p>\n
And after 2028, the year in which Suffredini expects the ISS to retire, those modules will detach from the ISS to form a free-flying space station. It will be able to support scientific research just as the ISS and double as a space hotel for deep-pocketed explorers who want to take a vacation from 250 miles above Earth. The ticket price is rumored at $55 million per person. And its reported that Tom Cruise and director Doug Liman have reserved spots to shoot the first film in space inside an AxStation.<\/p>\n
NASA and SpaceX will be involved in the process as well. Exactly a year ago, Axiom scored a $140 million indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract from NASA to attach one of its crew modules to a docking port on the ISS.<\/p>\n
Late in 2021, Axiom will fly a crew of four private astronautsincluding Michael Lpez-Alegra, a former NASA astronaut who now works for Axiom, former Israeli fighter pilot Eytan Stibbe, and two yet-to-be-announced space touristsin a SpaceX Dragon capsule for a short stay on the ISS. And when Axiom operates its own space hotel in the future, passengers can expect a full out-of-this-world experience in its designer-decorated vacation cabins.<\/p>\n
Replacing the ISS with a commercial space station will be a huge money saver for NASA. NASA currently spends $3.5 billion every year to operate the ISS. Not to mention what the other agencies are providing [to operate and maintain the ISS], Lpez-Alegra, now Axioms head of business development, recently told Business Insider. Theyd like to spend some of that money on deeper-space exploration, with the Artemis program or whatever the next administration decides.<\/p>\n
Axioms work to develop a commercial destination in space is a critical step for NASA to meet its long-term needs for astronaut training, scientific research, and technology demonstrations in low-Earth orbit, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a statement in January 2020. We are transforming the way NASA works with industry to benefit the global economy and advance space exploration.<\/p>\n
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This Startup Plans to Build a Space Hotel and Replace the International Space Station - Observer<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The International Space Station is aging. According to one estimate, the ISS has only ten years left, at best, before it has to retire or undergo a major renovation in order to continue service. With monumental change now in sight, an entire industry has cropped up around providing the possibilities Continue reading