Ex-NASA Manager and Axiom Space CEO Michael Suffredini Eyes Making $3 Billion Space Station

Space Entertainment Enterprise (SEE), located in the United Kingdom, has revealed intentions to launch a movie production studio module that would dock with the International Space Station (ISS). Another former NASA employee stated that he intends to build a space station that is 97 percent less expensive.

Axiom Eyes Making $3 Billion Space Station

Suppose Michael Suffredini, the CEO of Houston-based Axiom Space, wants to create a cheaper space station; he'll have to decide what to outsource and develop in-house.

According to Bloomberg, the International Space Station is estimated to cost $100 million to build. Suffredini wants the cost of the first commercial space station to be as low as $3 billion.

Axiom believes it can considerably lower the cost of a space station, thanks to technological advancements that allow for smaller components, which cut the cost of sending them into space and keeping them. Many components were added to the outside of the crowded ISS, necessitating costly spacewalks for maintenance.

The International Space Station was designed when scientists were still figuring out how to keep humans alive in orbit; therefore, it was quite conservative, according to Suffredini. He estimates that $3 billion will be enough to cover Axiom's first four modules as well as a power tower.

Axiom, founded in 2016 by Suffredini and space entrepreneur Kam Ghaffarian, stands out among the few space startups attempting to build the first commercial space station, not just because of Suffredini's 30-year NASA career which included a decade as the program manager for the space station.

The first and only NASA contract to build a detachable module for the International Space Station was awarded to Axiom in 2020. Before the present station retires in 2030, it aims to build its own station based on that module and place it in its own orbit.

RUSSIA-JAPAN-SPACE-ISS
A Soyuz MS-20 space craft is seen on a monitor after undocking from the the International Space Station (ISS), starting the landing of the International space crew including Japanese space tourists Yusaku Maezawa and his assistant Yozo Hirano, and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin, at Mission Control Center in Korolyov, outside Moscow, early on December 20, 2021. - A Japanese billionaire is to return to Earth December 20 after spending 12 days on the International Space Station, where he made videos about performing mundane tasks in space including brushing teeth and going to the bathroom. Online fashion tycoon Yusaku Maezawa and his assistant Yozo Hirano, who will be shepherded home by Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin, are set to parachute on Kazakhstan's steppe at 0313 GMT Monday. Their journey marked Russia's return to space tourism after a decade-long pause that saw the rise of competition from the United States. ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP via Getty Images
(Photo: ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP via Getty Images)
A Soyuz MS-20 space craft is seen on a monitor after undocking from the the International Space Station (ISS), starting the landing of the International space crew including Japanese space tourists Yusaku Maezawa and his assistant Yozo Hirano, and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin, at Mission Control Center in Korolyov, outside Moscow, early on December 20, 2021. - A Japanese billionaire is to return to Earth December 20 after spending 12 days on the International Space Station, where he made videos about performing mundane tasks in space including brushing teeth and going to the bathroom. Online fashion tycoon Yusaku Maezawa and his assistant Yozo Hirano, who will be shepherded home by Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin, are set to parachute on Kazakhstan's steppe at 0313 GMT Monday. Their journey marked Russia's return to space tourism after a decade-long pause that saw the rise of competition from the United States.

Axiom's ISS Movie Studio Module

Meanwhile, the new ISS film studio is scheduled to open in 2024. SEE (Space Entertainment Enterprise), a production business situated in the United Kingdom, validated this space invention.

For those unfamiliar with SEE, it is one of the production firms behind Tom Cruise's space flick. The organization has joined forces with Axiom Space, a Houston-based space infrastructure company.

The Space Entertainment Enterprise stated that Axiom Space had been commissioned to build the new SEE-1 movie studio space module.

According to a recent article from Space.com, the SEE-1 space module would have a sports arena, which will add to its appeal. In addition, the new movie studio is anticipated to have an inflatable space lab.

If this is the case, the new ISS film housing will be easier to construct than other rockets. Meanwhile, SEE has stated that the space module would host television shows, films, music, and sporting activities.

Aside from the forthcoming SEE-1 space module, Futurism mentioned a Russian module that docked with the ISS in November 2021. One of the ISS crew members, Thomas Marshburn, shared a snapshot of the view from this new component of the massive space station.

Check out more news and information on Space in Science Times.

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