Despite the enormous technological progress that space exploration has inspired,
NASA’s funding relative to other sectors has actually decreased over the years.
And, in 2021 it received only 0.5% of the federal budget. But now, and perhaps as a result of that,
the landscape is changing. Private companies are piling their money into space flight, instead,
and they’re not only building rockets. This is Unveiled, and today we’re exploring
4 things we’d like to see when private space stations launch.
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Initially in the early and mid-twentieth century, space flight was only really available to vast
and sprawling government backed agencies like NASA. Today, decades later, however, and more
and more companies are making space travel a commercial enterprise. We’ve seen rockets and
satellites appear from all corners, but the next big venture is to build private space stations.
It begins with something of a crossover between state-run and private projects, centring on
the most famous space station of all - the International Space Station. A number of different
companies such as Blue Origin, Nanoracks, and Axiom Space, are all currently vying
for government funding and approval to improve the ISS, but also to build a new structure significant
enough that it will one day replace the ISS. The International Space Station has been in
orbit for twenty-three years and counting, but the maintenance costs are reportedly becoming too high
to keep using it, with even the most optimistic projections reckoning that it could be gone by the
year 2030. In this developing world, then, it's arguably in NASA’s best interest to allow private
companies to take over space station building, to keep our off-Earth astronaut programs going.
What’s clear, though, is that with private companies potentially tweaking designs,
commercialising the entire concept, and adding new features, there are big changes ahead!
For the first thing we’d like to see, we defer to those who naturally know best:
current astronauts. They’ve lived and worked in environments like the ISS for months on end,
and so they have a detailed, first-hand understanding of what works and what doesn't.
During a 2021 interview with space.com regarding future builds,
the NASA astronauts Mark Vande Hei and Megan McArthur, listed cutting-edge labs as their
number one priority that any space station needs. Up until this point, the almost sole purpose of a
space station has been to serve as an advanced research hub, enabling astronauts to perform a
variety of experiments that they can’t do on the ground. With privatisation, some fear that this
focus on science will be lost in favour of leisure and novelty… but we mustn’t lose sight of the fact
that any space station (be it state backed or company owned) offers a unique environment to
push the boundaries of our knowledge. Perhaps private space stations will offer shinier labs
than those on the current ISS, though, and more space for astronauts to move around in.
The second thing we’d like to see is windows. And whole observation decks.
The Cupola is arguably the most famous part of the current ISS, as it’s from here,
in this seven-windowed dome, that astronauts are able to gaze out into space and down at Earth.
But, other than inside the Cupola, the ISS is kinda dark and enclosed. This isn’t likely to
be the case on private stations, though, where comfort could be top of the agenda - especially
if the intention is to welcome space tourists as well as traditional astronaut scientists.
More and bigger windows will make it far easier to observe procedures happening outside, and to
monitor the immediate vicinity, turning a space station into something more like a plane than
a submarine. But, as well as that, the general space station experience will be greatly enhanced.
From a space tourism point of view, a vast observation deck (or even observation windows
inside individual rooms) would be a major draw. We know that many astronauts experience a specific
change in the way they appreciate the world after they’ve looked down at Earth from above
for the first time, called the Overview Effect. And this will surely be something that future
private space stations will want to capitalize on, promising it to all their passengers via the best,
widest, and most comfortable viewpoints. Moving onto the third thing we’d like to see…
and it’s a decent floorplan. Perhaps the most common criticism levelled by astronauts
at the current space station is its inefficient layout. All the rooms and modules are generally
mashed together, built as they were over a long period of time when the needs of the station were
continually evolving. It means that busy corridors cut through the sleeping quarters, the gym is
nestled between labs, and places to eat, rest, and work can feel as though they merge into one.
Private companies have the chance to improve space station design from the outset, though, and also
to build much larger structures in general so that life onboard isn’t quite so cramped.
It currently costs around $1,000 to put a pound payload of anything into space,
so we can see how the cost of a space station can still quickly soar. But thanks in part
to space commercialisation, the figures are actually lower than they’ve ever been. Plus,
while those behind the ISS have had to be extremely conservative over the years,
those running private space stations have the option of earning profit by bringing high-paying
customers onboard. This theoretically means that they can afford to make the stations bigger,
bolder, more glamorous, and more appealing to space tourists. Blue Origin, for example, wants to
create a station called the Orbital Reef, pitched as a space village and somewhere that will house
all types of people - not just astronauts. Axiom Space, meanwhile, also wants to build a much more
flexible station, with the movie star Tom Cruise continually linked to the project! At the very
least, we can hope that private space stations will have logical layouts from the beginning,
perhaps with clear divisions between the labs and research areas… and the hospitality zones. Life
onboard might offer a little bit of general privacy, too, which is another qualm that
current astronauts often raise, what with the ISS providing essentially no personal space at all.
Finally, the fourth thing we’d like to see is innovation. OK, so that’s extremely vague,
and a private space station just in and of itself would be innovative enough already… but with
these things set to launch in the coming years, the race is on to build the best. For decades,
the ISS has stood as a mostly unchallenged example of how space stations work. But that won’t be the
case for the next generation, and competition between companies will spur the industry on.
Particularly, again, with space tourists in mind. Private space stations will likely be much more
entertainment based, with the goal of providing a comfortable, exciting and unique vacation away
from Earth. Each station will therefore need to look good for casual users, offering various
levels of home comfort - such as Earth-like beds, communication links to the ground, pleasant
(non-clinical) décor, and customer service staff. Whereas one company could become known for its
world class observation deck, another is famed for providing the best menu in low-Earth orbit,
while another promises “microgravity like you’ve never felt it before”. Before long, we could
be talking onboard swimming pools, zero g games rooms, and tourist EVAs. With nothing to hold them
back other than their own wealth… if a private company can think it, they could do it. It’s not
a total wild west up there, and there are laws to abide by, but there’s also incredible freedom.
Space tourism is so regularly tipped as one of the world’s next big industries.
And we’ve seen how companies like Blue Origin and SpaceX are already offering spaceflights
for a small number of regular, non-astronaut people. At the moment, the cost to get on one
of those flights is beyond the means of many, but predictions are that prices will come down.
In fact, it’s thought that they’ll have to come down as competition increases.
And, when that happens, the private space station game could well be in full swing.
If you were taking a trip to one of these futuristic destinations, what would you expect?
Is there anything from the surface of Earth that you simply couldn’t be without?
Although the ISS unfortunately looks set to be retired in the coming years, there are still
exciting times ahead. And those are 4 things we want to see when private space stations launch.
What do you think? Is there anything we missed? Let us know in the comments, check out these other
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