Which of these commercial space station designs do you like best?

Submitted by Mindless_Use7567 t3_zuuquz in space

Over the last few years several new commercial space station designs have been proposed and I wanted to get a feeling for which ones people like best. Please provide your reasoning for you choice in the comments and even a ranking of the designs if you like.

For those unfamiliar with any of the designs below I have included links to the announcement videos and websites with information on the designs.

Axiom Space Station Video: https://youtu.be/vHMrYYIXxqE Info: https://www.axiomspace.com/axiom-station

Orbital Reef Video: https://youtu.be/SC3ooNXfcGE Info: https://www.orbitalreef.com https://www.blueorigin.com/news/orbital-reef-commercial-space-station/ https://www.sierraspace.com/space-destinations/

Starlab Video: https://youtu.be/P-C0xjNdq-A Info: https://nanoracks.com/starlab/ https://voyagerspace.com/space-stations/starlab/

Northrop Grumman’s Space Station(unnamed) Video: https://youtu.be/FMEV38XwChE Info: https://www.northropgrumman.com/space/commercial-space-station/

Orb2 Video: https://youtu.be/Z3GBE_NS6Y8 Info: https://www.thinkorbital.com/technology.html

Also below is a great comparison video of Orbital Reef, Starlab, Axiom Space Station and a SpaceX Starship space station concept.

https://youtu.be/MwHhsMatVJ4

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Comments

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ferrel_hadley t1_j1lguqh wrote

My personal "hot take" is we need to move from bespoke components to batch production of modules that can be fitted out for specific tasks and fitted together to build the station. I think the idea of designing and building everything is an idea for $100 million launches not $10 million, the paradigm we are supposed to be aiming for. I think these are all really Old Space in new livery. I think the New Space station is still to be designed.

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Mindless_Use7567 OP t1_j1lhehi wrote

If you had a look at a couple of the designs you would see that a couple have the batch production of modules as their core idea. It is most evident with Orbital Reef as the core modules and LIFE modules will be exactly the same from a manufacturing standpoint. However bespoke modules for certain requirements will still be required into the future under certain conditions.

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madewithgarageband t1_j1oiymw wrote

standardized docking ports, adding modules for different functions when it comes to expansion. This worked really well for my minecraft base and im sure it will work well in space too

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dusty545 t1_j1m64y8 wrote

All of these web pages just show a sales pitch. There's no engineering or technical data.

So, hard to say which one I like best based on a collection of brochures.

As u/ferrel_hadley stated, the only workable design is a modular system where you can add/remove high-production rate modules over time. Without big volume order contracts for the modules, all this crap goes bankrupt right off the bat.

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Mindless_Use7567 OP t1_j1m74tm wrote

Unfortunately as these are privately owned and built we unlikely to ever get the same level of technical data released as with the ISS, Orion, Apollo or Skylab. We will need to make like the military enthusiasts community and make best guesses at the technical details based on what limited information is released.

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[deleted] t1_j1mce5n wrote

I like the one that will actually get built. Design isn't going to be nearly as important as sustainable funding, and that is going to take a new kind of business model. Any station will be a platform for science and a hot spot destination for rich people who can afford a trip. The money from rich people isn't going to cut it, just like first class airline tickets cannot fund an entire flight. So it'll be research projects that fund it. NASA will probably offer some cash for ongoing research, DoD as well. But will that be enough to justify the effort? Is that actually profitable? They'll need to go farther. They will need to sell research time to universities and private companies. And they'll need to have an entire human spaceflight support system. And they'll have to build and maintain this thing. And, and, and, and.

The economics of this idea are really tough, and flashy PR visions of potential designs exist for one reason - fundraising. They want to get people excited about what could be, get early investors to chuck in some money to start funding an enormously expensive project with very questionable return, just in terms of raw profit. The scientific return would be amazing, but science doesn't pay people's salaries.

So, I'll start getting excited when someone has a viable business model and stuff starts getting built. Until then, these are just fantasies.

Exhibit A: Bigelow was screaming from the rooftops that his space station would be operational in short order...20 years ago.

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Mindless_Use7567 OP t1_j1mnpcl wrote

Well Axiom is contacted for adding 2 modules to the ISS so their Habitation modules are more or less financed by NASA so it mainly depends on if the research and power tower modules are built and docked.

NASA is providing partial development funding and paying for 2 astronauts constantly on orbit plus 200 experiments per year for the 3 that are part of the CLD program which is Orbital Reef, Starlab and NG’s station.

Orbital Reef and Axiom have already got some countries and private companies signed up to use their stations once they are up and running.

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holmgangCore t1_j1pgou9 wrote

It’s almost like our economic system, built on the expectation of “return” and “profit”, isn’t really a good model for doing adventurous, high-risk projects.

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hawkwings t1_j1nfkya wrote

It looks like NASA is hoping that there will be revenue. It isn't clear what revenue there will be outside of NASA. There would be a few tourists, but I don't know how big that market will be. Some tourists would be fine with 3 hours in orbit with no docking with a space station.

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Mindless_Use7567 OP t1_j1njnc8 wrote

A lot of private companies already run experiments on the ISS and several companies have products that need to be manufactured in microgravity so I think the revenue streams will be there but the manufacturing lines will need time to set up.

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Murky_Examination144 t1_j1o9den wrote

None of these explore a revolving ring / module to simulate some gravity? Long term occupation in space is damaging to humans without gravity. Let's start building a station that can be permanently crewed without the astronauts having to spend valuable research time exercising in order to prevent their muscles and bones from atrophying.

Other than that, Orb2 looks interesting.

Addendum: Can I contribute THIS to the discussion? https://www.buildtheenterprise.org/

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Mindless_Use7567 OP t1_j1oa55b wrote

While Orbital Reef does not say it in their marketing the NASA CLD source selection statement says that they are planning for some form of artificial spin gravity up to human scale. Possibly some form of rotating body inside a LIFE module.

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