Elon Musk wants to build his own space base. SpaceX and American startup Vast have announced ambitious plans to create a highly innovative project - the first commercial base launched into Earth orbit.
The International Space Station is becoming more and more competitive. While the base of the ISS, which is used by NASA in particular, is coming to an end of life, its structure is being built by the Chinese. Now, however, an unexpected competitor, SpaceX, is joining the orbital race.
SpaceX will build a base in Earth orbit
SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, recently announced a close partnership with Los Angeles-based startup Vast. The companies want to pave the way and create the first private space station. While the companies may not have been the first to come up with the idea, they can get ahead of their competitors.
According to the announced plan, the Falcon 9 rocket should launch the first module into low Earth orbit (LEO) in mid-2025. It will be called Haven-1 and will be the basis for further development of the structure.
Vast is a company specializing in space habitation modules, and its specialists will be responsible for the production of the second element of the station. The next mission will require precise placement of the Vast-1 module and connecting it to Haven-1.
The third flight will be manned - four astronauts will arrive at the station aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft. In the first test, the team must work and live in orbit for 30 days, and then return safely to Earth aboard the Dragon.
Vast intends to sell all four seats on board the capsule. Global space agencies, as well as individuals with a fairly rich portfolio, will be able to apply to participate in the mission. The ticket price has not yet been announced.
NASA is looking for a successor to the ISS - Starlab vs Orbital Reef
As we wrote in Wprost.pl, the International Space Station (ISS) should serve in orbit until the end of 2030, when it will be decommissioned in accordance with the plan. The American space agency NASA cannot afford a break in the space presence, so it is already hard at work on replacing the installation and invites commercial companies to cooperate.
One of the plans is the NASA Starlab station, which is a joint initiative between Voyager Space, Nanoracks and Lockheed Martin. The list also includes an unusual company - Hilton. The hotel empire is to help furnish the space inside the space station, which is scheduled for construction in 2027.
Other participants in the race - Blue Origin - the space company of Jeff Bezos. The venture has proposed deploying the Orbital Reef station by 2030. The project was also presented by Northrop Grumman and Axiom.
All projects are developed under the Commercial LEO Destinations program. By hiring private companies to design space stations, NASA wants to optimize costs. The agency estimates that this will save about $1 billion a year.
Source: Wprost
I am George Brown, author at Daily News Hack. I mostly cover economy news and I have been doing this for quite some time now. I have a lot of experience in this field and I’m always looking for new opportunities to learn more.
