Rich Smith, The Motley Fool 2/19/2024
The International Space Station is a technological marvel.
Beginning with the Zarya power and propulsion module launched in 1998, through the installation of its latest solar array last year, the ISS took more than a quarter-century, 42 space launches, and $150 billion to build. 108.5 meters end-to-end, the ISS boasts 1,0005 cubic meters of pressurized volume on its inside, of which roughly 39% (388 cubic meters) are habitable.
But science has come a long way since 1998. As the ISS approaches the end of its lifespan in 2031 or thereabouts, it might now be possible to replace the space station with something bigger, and even more useful -- with one single space launch.
How?
As you probably know, there are currently at least four separate teams of companies working with NASA to replace the ISS with one or more new, privately owned and operated space station(s):
• Privately held Vast Space and Axiom Space both have plans to build separate, independent space stations in Low Earth Orbit.
• Blue Origin, Sierra Space, Boeing, and Redwire have teamed up to build an "Orbital Reef" space station.
• And Voyager Space is cooperating with multiple companies and space agencies, including Europe's Airbus (OTC: EADSY), American defense contractor Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC), and -- intriguingly -- Hilton Hotels (NYSE: HLT) to build a "Starlab" space station.
It's this last team we'll be talking about today.
Starlab + StarshipOn Jan. 31, the Starlab space station team announced that it had hired SpaceX to launch its entire Starlab space station (or at least the first module of it; there may be more) to Low Earth Orbit "in a single mission prior to the decommissioning of the International Space Station." (Specifically, Starlab is targeting a 2028 launch.)
More:
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/americas-next-space-station-twice-120700826.html
