New Delhi: Blue Origin and Sierra Space announced on Monday their plans for Orbital Reef, a commercially developed, owned, and operated space station to be built in low Earth orbit. The space station will house up to 10 people by the second half of the decade, claimed the space company. This announcement comes amidst the ongoing race to commercialise the cosmos.
What Is Orbital Reef?
Orbital Reef will open the next chapter of human space exploration and development by facilitating the growth of a vibrant ecosystem and business model for the future.
Orbital Reef is designed to open multiple new markets in space. The station will provide anyone with the opportunity to establish their own address in orbit.
This unique destination will offer research, industrial, international, and commercial customers the cost-competitive end-to-end services they need including space transportation and logistics, space habitation, equipment accommodation, and operations including onboard crew.
A fact sheet released by Blue Origin mentions that Orbital Reef will fly at an altitude of 500km, which is slightly above the ISS. The inhabitants could visualise 32 sunrises and sunsets a day.
The volume of Orbital Reef is 830 cubic metres, and as many as 10 people can be accommodated in it. The size is slightly smaller than the ISS. Orbital Reef will have futuristic modules with huge windows.
Orbital Reef will serve as "a mixed-use business park in space", that will support microgravity research and manufacturing, as described in a statement by Blue Origin.
The space station is a joint venture between Blue Origin and commercial space company Sierra Space.
It is also supported by space industry leaders and teammates including Boeing, Redwire Space, Genesis Engineering Solutions, and Arizona State University.
“For over sixty years, NASA and other space agencies have developed orbital space flight and space habitation, setting us up for commercial business to take off in this decade,” said Brent Sherwood, Senior Vice President of Advanced Development Programs for Blue Origin.
“We will expand access, lower the cost, and provide all the services and amenities needed to normalize space flight," he added.
Sherwood said that Orbital Reef will help a vibrant business ecosystem grow in low Earth orbit, generate new discoveries, new products, new entertainments, and global awareness.
“Sierra Space is thrilled to partner with Blue Origin and provides the Dream Chaser spaceplane, the LIFE module, and additional space technologies to open up space for commercial research, manufacturing, and tourism", said Dr. Janet Kavandi, former three-time NASA astronaut and Sierra Space president.
She added that as a former NASA astronaut, she had been waiting for the moment where working and living in space is accessible to more people worldwide, and that moment has arrived.
The proprietary needs of diverse tenants and visitors will be supported efficiently by shared infrastructure. The space architecture will be human-centered. There will be world-class services and amenities, which are inspiring, practical and safe.
Orbital Reef will be the premier commercial destination in low Earth orbit. It will feature the essential infrastructure required to increase economic activity. Also, new markets could be opened in space.
The cost and complexity for both traditional space operators and new arrivals will be minimised due to reusable space transportation and smart design. Advanced automation and logistics will allow the widest range of users to pursue their goals.
Customers will be benefitted from the open system architecture.
Module berths, vehicle ports, utilities, and amenities will increase as the market grows.
The Fate Of The ISS And Space Stations Planned For The Future
NASA has plans for the future of the International Space Station after the 2020s. The space agency has signed a contract with a company called Axiom to build a space station that will first dock with the ISS. The station will subsequently become free-flying.
The ISS has been a symbol of the US-Russia space corporation for a long time. However, Moscow recently prevaricated on the future of the partnership.
NASA administrator Bill Nelson states that he hopes the ISS will last until 2030. The space station is currently rated safe until 2028. Nelson says by 2030, NASA wants the commercial sector to step up and replace the ISS.
A space services company named Nanoracks announced last week that it plans to build a space station, in collaboration with Voyager Space and Lockheed Martin. The station will be operational by 2027, and be known as Starlab, Nanoracks claimed.
Blue Origin's Space-faring Activities And Future Plans
Earlier this month, Star Trek's Captain Kirk, William Shatner became the oldest man after blasting off into space aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket. However, Blue Origin's flights are limited to low-earth orbit as of now.
Blue Origin also has plans for a rocket named New Glenn, which will carry cargo and people into orbit. The company's planned projects also include a lunar lander. Blue Origin had lost the Artemis contract to SpaceX and is suing NASA for the same.
Jeff Bezos is the second richest man in the world. He also has the goal of developing floating colonies in space with artificial gravity. He hopes that millions of people will work and live in those colonies, and Earth will be freed from pollution.
The artificial gravity will be provided by counter-rotating cylinders in the colonies. Gerard O'Neill, Bezos' physics professor at Princeton, will design the colonies.