Tue 26 October 2021:
Blue Origin, the billionaire Jeff Bezos’ company, announced plans on Monday to work with Boeing on a commercial space station called “Orbital Reef,” with a target launch date in the second half of this decade.
Sierra Space, the spaceflight arm of defense contractor Sierra Nevada Corp, will lead the project, which will be sponsored by Redwire Space, Genesis Engineering Solutions, and Arizona State University.
Sierra Space is contributing its LIFE habitat (Large Integrated Flexible Environment; essentially an inflatable space station module) and plans to use its Dream Chaser spacecraft to transport cargo and crew to-and-from the station.
According to Blue Origin and Sierra Space, Orbital Reef will be run as a “mixed use business park” that will offer the infrastructure needed to scale economic activity and develop new markets in space.
In a statement companies said, “Seasoned space agencies, high-tech consortia, sovereign nations without space programs, media and travel companies, funded entrepreneurs and sponsored inventors, and future-minded investors all have a place on Orbital Reef.”
Blue Origin vice president Brent Sherwood said the team is not going to give “a specific number” on how much the Orbital Reef space station will cost, adding that the financial numbers are commercially sensitive.
Sierra announced plans to launch the world’s first free-flying commercial space station in April.
Blue Origin’s first space tourism trip, with Bezos and three people on board, was a success in July. On a rocketship flown by Blue Origin, 90-year-old American actor William Shatner – Captain James Kirk of “Star Trek” fame – became the oldest person in space earlier this month.
Last week, another private space station was announced by a separate team of companies: Nanoracks, Voyager Space and Lockheed Martin are building a station called Starlab, which plans to be operational by 2027.
(with agency) PHOTO: Twitter Orbital Reef
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