Germany-based Airbus Defense and Space announced a US partnership led by Voyager Space-owned Nanoracks to develop and operate the future Starlab commercial space station in low Earth orbit.
The new space station is one of four NASA-backed projects that will host research for space agencies and commercial ventures after the International Space Station retires at the end of the decade.
Starlab: The Free-Flying Space Station
Starlab is a free-flying space station that will serve NASA, other space agencies, and researchers that will conduct experiments in low Earth orbit. It is due to be launched in 2028 to ensure a continued US-European partnership and human presence in LEO.
On October 2021, Voyager Space announced their plans for Starlab and will be working with Lockheed Martin. Aviation Week reports that the addition of Airbus gives a strong international presence to Starlab, which was awarded a $130 million Space Act Agreement in December 2021 to help with the development of a permanently-staffed space station.
Starlab is described as a four-person inflatable habitat, which included a metallic docking node and bus, power and propulsion element, as well as a large robotic arm for servicing.
The proposed space station is designed to host the George Washington Carver Science Park that has four science labs and an open workbench for astronauts. Airbus will be providing technical design support and expertise to Starlab, which replicates the payload capacity of the ISS.
Voyager Chairman and CEO Dylan Taylor said that Airbus will expand Starlab's ecosystem to serve the European Space Agency (ESA) and its member state space agencies for continued partnership in LEO. Jean-Marc Nasr, Airbus executive vice president of space systems added that the partnership is the first step toward fielding the next generation of space stations for international astronauts.
READ ALSO : Is the ISS Retiring? NASA Details Plans for Using Privately Developed Space Stations in the Future
Space Agencies Finding Ways to Work Together
ISS partners have been thinking of how they will make use of commercial space stations in the future after the ISS is retired. Current arrangements in the ISS involve barter for services, which is unlikely to apply to commercial facilities, according to Space News.
German space agency DLR director of applications and science Peter Gräf said during a conference in October that they would need to find ways to work together in ways unlike before. There are a lot of options available and the main players are in heavy discussion about it.
Nicolas Maubert, the space counselor at the French Embassy in the US, said Europe does not want to pay directly to private American companies so direct payments from their governments to the latter for commercial space stations could be politically problematic. But those concerns might be alleviated if European companies and other ISS partners are involved in the space stations.
Aside from Airbus, another European company involved in a commercial space station project is Thales Alenia Space. The company will be building modules for Axiom Space that will be first attached to the ISS and be detached to a new commercial space station.
RELATED ARTICLE: Axiom Space VP Says 'Commercial Astronauts' Will Carry Out Experiments Without Annoying ISS Crew
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