Station statistics | |
---|---|
Crew | Initially 6 (10+ in growth configuration) |
Launch | By 2027 |
Carrier rocket | New Glenn Vulcan Centaur |
Mission status | development |
Pressurized volume | 830 m3 (29,000 cu ft) |
Orbital Reef is an under development low Earth orbit (LEO) space station being designed by Blue Origin and Sierra Nevada Corporation's Sierra Space for commercial space activities and space tourism uses. Blue Origin has referred to it as a "mixed-use business park". [1] The companies released preliminary concepts for the station on 25 October 2021. The station is being designed to support 10 persons in 830 m3 of volume. [2] As of March 2022 [update] , the station was projected to be operational by 2027. [3]
Blue Origin and Sierra Space partnered with several other companies and institutions to submit the 2021 proposal: [4] [5]
On 2 December 2021, NASA announced it had selected Blue Origin as one of three companies to develop concept designs of space stations and other commercial destinations in space. Blue Origin was awarded $130 million. [9]
The contract with Blue was one of three funded Space Act Agreements (SAA) that NASA issued for the first phase of its Commercial LEO Destinations program (CLD). [10] Space Act Agreements provide limited funding for specific milestones to be achieved by the companies, and are distinct from more widely used Federal Acquisition Regulation FAR contracts used in most legacy NASA space programs, where NASA owns responsibility for both the design and the program requirements. The 2021 contract with Blue was just the first phase of two by which NASA is aiming to maintain an uninterrupted U.S. presence in low-Earth orbit by transitioning from the International Space Station to other platforms. [11] [ needs update ]
In June 2023, ISRO chairman S Somanath told the Times of India that Blue Origin is “very keen” on considering using an Indian rocket as a crew capsule to service its proposed space station Orbital Reef in low-Earth orbit as a part of commercial ventures proposed by ISRO before the launch of the planned Indian Space Station . [12]
By October 2023, NASA reported they had paid out only US$24 million of the $130 million contract for completion of specific milestones. Also in early October, issues between Sierra Space and Blue Origin became public, and CNBC reported that the Orbital Reef website had not been updated in over a year, and that no hiring for the project is currently being done, as both companies have other larger space projects that are higher priorities for them. CNBC also reported that the two partners on the project may go their separate ways. [10] However, after talks between the companies, both companies tweeted on their Twitter accounts on 10 October that they were continuing to work with each other on the contract deliverables for Phase 1. [13]
In March 2024, NASA reported that Blue Origin had passed 4 test milestones relating to Orbital Reef. [14] More critical testing was reported to occur in Summer 2024 with successful burst tests of Sierra Space's LIFE modules. [15] [16]
Orbital Reef’s design is reported to be modular in nature, to provide the greatest amount of customization and compatibility. It will reportedly be designed to accept docking from almost every in operation spacecraft like SpaceX Dragon 2, Soyuz (spacecraft), Dream Chaser, and Boeing Starliner
The initial modules will be the: LIFE, Node, Core, and Research Modules. [17]
A space station is a spacecraft which remains in orbit and hosts humans for extended periods of time. It therefore is an artificial satellite featuring habitation facilities. The purpose of maintaining a space station varies depending on the program. Most often space stations have been research stations, but they have also served military or commercial uses, such as hosting space tourists.
Human spaceflight programs have been conducted, started, or planned by multiple countries and companies. Until the 21st century, human spaceflight programs were sponsored exclusively by governments, through either the military or civilian space agencies. With the launch of the privately funded SpaceShipOne in 2004, a new category of human spaceflight programs – commercial human spaceflight – arrived. By the end of 2022, three countries and one private company (SpaceX) had successfully launched humans to Earth orbit, and two private companies had launched humans on a suborbital trajectory.
Private spaceflight refers to spaceflight activities undertaken by non-governmental entities, such as corporations, individuals, or non-profit organizations. This contrasts with public spaceflight, which is traditionally conducted by government agencies like NASA, ESA, or JAXA.
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Dream Chaser is an American reusable lifting-body spaceplane developed by Sierra Space. Originally intended as a crewed vehicle, the Dream Chaser Space System is set to be produced after the Dream Chaser Cargo System cargo variant is operational. The crewed variant is planned to carry up to seven people and cargo to and from low Earth orbit. Sierra plans to manufacture a fleet of the spaceplane.
The B330 was an inflatable space habitat privately developed by Bigelow Aerospace from 2010 until 2020. The design was evolved from NASA's TransHab habitat concept. B330 was to have 330 cubic meters (12,000 cu ft) of internal volume, hence its numeric designation.
Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) was a NASA program to spur the development of private spacecraft and launch vehicles for deliveries to the International Space Station (ISS). Launched in 2006, COTS successfully concluded in 2013 after completing all demonstration flights.
Inflatable habitats or expandable habitats are pressurized tent-like structures capable of supporting life in outer space whose internal volume increases after launch. They have frequently been proposed for use in space applications to provide a greater volume of living space for a given mass.
Cygnus is an expendable American cargo spacecraft used for International Space Station (ISS) logistics missions. Cygnus was developed by Orbital Sciences Corporation, partially funded by NASA under the agency's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program. To create Cygnus, Orbital paired the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module, built by Thales Alenia Space and previously used by the Space Shuttle for ISS logistics, with a service module based on Orbital's GEOStar, a satellite bus. After a successful demonstration flight in 2013, Orbital was chosen to receive a Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract. A larger Enhanced Cygnus was introduced in 2015. Orbital Sciences was renamed Orbital ATK in 2015 and Northrop Grumman purchased Orbital in 2018 and has continued to operate Cygnus missions.
The Boeing Starliner is a class of partially reusable spacecraft designed to transport crew to the International Space Station (ISS) and other low-Earth-orbit destinations. It is manufactured by Boeing, with the Commercial Crew Program (CCP) of NASA as the lead customer. The spacecraft consists of a crew capsule that can be reused on up to ten missions and an expendable service module.
Development of the Commercial Crew Program (CCDev) began in the second round of the program, which was rescoped from a smaller technology development program for human spaceflight to a competitive development program that would produce the spacecraft to be used to provide crew transportation services to and from the International Space Station (ISS). To implement the program, NASA awarded a series of competitive fixed-price contracts to private vendors starting in 2011. Operational contracts to fly astronauts were awarded in September 2014 to SpaceX and Boeing, and NASA expected each company to complete development and achieve crew rating in 2017. Each company performed an uncrewed orbital test flight in 2019.
Axiom Space, Inc., also known as Axiom Space, is an American privately funded space infrastructure developer headquartered in Houston, Texas.
The Gateway Logistics Services will be a series of uncrewed spaceflights to the Lunar Gateway space station, with the purpose of providing logistical services to the Gateway. Overseen by NASA's Gateway Logistics Element, the flights will be operated by commercial providers, contracted by the agency in support of crewed expeditions to the Gateway made under the Artemis program. As of March 2023, SpaceX is the only company contracted to provide the services.
The Commercial Crew Program (CCP) provides commercially operated crew transportation service to and from the International Space Station (ISS) under contract to NASA, conducting crew rotations between the expeditions of the International Space Station program. American space manufacturer SpaceX began providing service in 2020, using the Crew Dragon spacecraft, and NASA plans to add Boeing when its Boeing Starliner spacecraft becomes operational no earlier than 2025. NASA has contracted for six operational missions from Boeing and fourteen from SpaceX, ensuring sufficient support for ISS through 2030.
Axiom Orbital Segment or Axiom Segment are the planned modular components of the International Space Station (ISS) designed by Houston, Texas-based Axiom Space for commercial space activities. Axiom Space gained initial NASA approval for the venture in January 2020. Axiom Space was later awarded the contract by NASA on February 28, 2020. This orbital station will be separated from the ISS to become a modular space station, Axiom Station, after the ISS is decommissioned.
Starlab is a planned LEO commercial space station, which is expected to launch no earlier than 2028. It is currently being designed by Starlab Space, a joint venture between Voyager Space and Airbus. It is planned to be launched before the decommissioning of the ISS.
Sierra Space Corporation, commonly referred to as Sierra Space, is a privately held aerospace and space technologies company headquartered in Louisville, Colorado, with additional facilities in Colorado, Wisconsin, Florida, North Carolina and a testing site at the Marshal Space Flight Center in Alabama. The company makes spaceflight hardware for various applications across the industry. It is currently developing the Dream Chaser spaceplane. The spaceplane was selected by NASA to provide services to the International Space Station under NASA's Commercial Resupply Service 2 contract. The company is also in collaboration with Blue Origin to develop components of the Orbital Reef space station.
The Commercial LEO Destinations program is a public/private partnership program of the NASA, to help facilitate the building of private commercial space stations (CSSs) in low Earth orbit.