One more step towards the privatization of International space station (ISS): NASA announced Monday January 27 that Axiom Space had been selected to supply at least one habitable commercial module, which should be stowed at the ISS in the second half of 2024. The module will be attached to the mooring port Node 2 and will include a research facility, crew accommodation and a ground observatory. ” This new commercial platform will significantly increase the volume usable and habitable from the ISS “Says Axiom, who has space heavyweights in his team (Boeing, Thales Alenia Space, Intuitive Machines, Maxar). The project door on a duration five years, extendable two years.
Launched in 1998, the ISS was to last until 2020, but ultimately received a reprieve at least until 2024. Its maintenance costs 3 to 4 billion dollars per year to the Nasa, who therefore seeks to make it profitable with private projects. Following its decommissioning, Axiom intends to detach its modules to constitute its own autonomous station and offer access to it for private research purposes or to wealthy tourists. Since 2016, an experimental inflatable module called Beam and built by Bigelow Aerospace is already attached to the ISS. Despite a good technical evaluation, NASA did not follow up on Bigelow’s proposal.
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