Three companies selected to develop commercial space stations
The base design of the Blue Origin-led Orbital Reef outpost, one of three designs for commercial space stations selected by NASA as potential successors to the International Space Station. Credit: Orbital Reef
Last week, NASA signed agreements with three U.S. companies to develop private free-flying commercial space stations in low Earth orbit.
Part of NASA’s Commercial low Earth orbit Destinations, or CLD, program, these funded Space Act Agreements are part of the agency’s efforts to help develop private space stations that could serve as one or more successors to the now 21-year-old International Space Station.
The three companies chosen are Blue Origin, Nanoracks and Northrop Grumman. The combined contracts are worth a total of $415.6 million.
Nanoracks’ Starlab outpost is designed to be a continuously-crewed, free-flying commercial space station with the potential to host four people. Credit: Nanoracks/Lockheed Martin/Voyager Space
“Building on our successful initiatives to partner with private industry to deliver cargo, and now our NASA astronauts, to the International Space Station, NASA is once again leading the way to commercialize space activities,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in a Dec. 2 news release about the announcement. “With commercial companies now providing transportation to low Earth orbit in place, we are partnering with U.S. companies to develop the space destinations where people can visit, live, and work, enabling NASA to continue forging a path in space for the benefit of humanity while fostering commercial activity in space.”
According to NASA, by developing these premier commercial platforms in space, it could help achieve a pathway forward as the ISS is expected to be retired by the end of this decade. As of right now, funding for the football field-sized orbiting laboratory is expected through 2024. However, there are efforts to extend that to at least 2028 and possibly 2030, so long as the outpost remains safe to operate and inhabit.
These awards are the first in a two-phase approach, with the goal of ensuring a seamless transition of activity from the ISS to commercial space stations, NASA said.
The first phase is expected to run through 2025 and is expected to help the three companies fully-recognize their designs and contributions. Following that, NASA anticipates certifying one or more proposals for use by NASA crew members in low Earth orbit.
A team led by Nanoracks, which includes Voyager Space and Lockheed Martin, received the largest sum of the award, $160 million for its space station concept named Starlab with a targeted completion date of 2027.
Current plans are for the base Orbital Reef structure to be fully operational by the end of the 2020s.
Finally, $125.6 million was awarded to Northrop Grumman. Its commercial space station platform is expected to build on the design of the Cygnus cargo spacecraft, Mission Extension Vehicle satellite servicing program and the Habitation and Logistics Outpost module that the company is currently working on for NASA’s Lunar Gateway, part of the Artemis program.
Northrop Grumman’s commercial space station design is based off the company’s Cygnus spacecraft, which has been servicing the International space Station since 2013. Credit: Northrop Grumman
The three awarded contractors and their contributions were selected from eleven proposals submitted in August of 2021.
There is another opportunity for all the bidders to compete for the second phase of the program set for the middle of this decade, where NASA intends to extend contracts to certify commercial space stations for NASA astronaut use and proposed commerce-related services from these providers.
NASA also awarded a contract to Axiom Space in early 2020, allowing the company access to a port on the ISS in which it intends to add a series of modules for a commercial “Axiom” segment of the outpost. The goal is for the multi-module segment to eventually detach and form a commercial space station at the end of the life of the ISS.
The goal is for the commercial modules to be added as early as 2024, according to Axiom Space.
Funding for this program is generated from a NASA request in the amount of $101.1 million for its Commercial low Earth orbit development program in the agency’s fiscal year 2022 budget.
The House of Representatives bill should satisfy half that amount while the Senate bill aims to fully fund the difference of the program. However, the fiscal year 2022 budget is still being debated in Congress and U.S. federal government spending is currently operating on a continuing resolution through Feb. 18, 2022.
Milestones in the program could suffice for covering any shortfalls in funding, as the agency hopes to stay on track with continued presence in low Earth orbit as confidence remains high from the award recipients and their delivery dates.
Video courtesy of Blue Origin
Theresa Cross
Theresa Cross grew up on the Space Coast. It’s only natural that she would develop a passion for anything “Space” and its exploration. During these formative years, she also discovered that she possessed a talent and love for defining the unique quirks and intricacies that exist in mankind, nature, and machines. Hailing from a family of photographers—including her father and her son, Theresa herself started documenting her world through pictures at a very early age. As an adult, she now exhibits an innate photographic ability to combine what appeals to her heart and her love of technology to deliver a diversified approach to her work and artistic presentations. Theresa has a background in water chemistry, fluid dynamics, and industrial utility.
