A project to develop a new private space station has just been announced by Lockheed Martin, Nanoracks and Voyager Space, with initial operational capability expected by 2027. "Starlab" hopes to become a commercial space station that can open up space to new players.
Space continues to captivate the world's entrepreneurs. American defense and security company Lockheed Martin will collaborate with Nanoracks (a company specializing in space equipment) and Voyager Space to develop a commercial space station called "Starlab." Ambitious space projects have been flourishing in recent months. For starters, there's the race between Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic to send citizens into space, not to mention the space factory due to be blasted off by SpaceX. The latest project aims to build a commercial space station, opening up space to the many different actors ready to get onboard. However, they will have to wait until 2027 to do so.
"To meet US government, international space agency, and commercial needs in space, these industry leaders will develop 'Starlab' specifically to enable the growing space economy and meet pent-up customer demand for space services such as materials research, plant growth, and astronaut activity," explain the three firms in a joint news release.
Picking up where the ISS leaves off
The "Starlab" station will include a habitat module with a volume of about 340 cubic meters (in comparison, the ISS is 916 cubic meters), as well as a power and propulsion system. For in-space experiments, the station will be equipped with a laboratory and a large robotic arm to retrieve cargo. It will be able to host a maximum of four people to carry out predominantly scientific and research tasks.
Space stations such as this are of particular importance for one simple reason: NASA could retire the ISS between 2028 and 2030. New modules proposed by the private sector could therefore take over from the International Space Station, which has been hosting astronauts from different countries since the year 2000. To facilitate this transition, NASA has set up a "Commercial Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) Destinations" project, which aims to finance commercial projects and then, in a second phase, to invest in destination services. And the influx of private sector entrepreneurs could well blast us into a new era in space.
