Axiom Space: A Commercial Space Station
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| Axiom Space Commercial Image |
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration selected Axiom Space
as the winner of the NextSTEP-2 Appendix I solicitation, which sought to
grant access to the International Space Station's Node 2 Forward port
for a commercial space station that could ultimately serve as ISS'
replacement.
Co-founded by stalwart space entrepreneur Dr. Kam Ghaffarian and former NASA ISS Program Manager Michael Suffredini,
both of whom have in excess of 35 years of human spaceflight
experience, Axiom plans to launch a node module, research &
manufacturing facility, crew habitat, and large-windowed Earth
observatory to form the "Axiom Segment" of the ISS. This new commercial
platform will significantly increase the usable and habitable volume of
the ISS, provide for novel avenues of research in areas such as
isolation studies and Earth observation, and allow a gradual transfer of
the innovative work being done on-station to prevent interruptions when
the ISS is ultimately retired.
So NASA has approved the addition of the first @axiom.space module onto the ISS.As more modules are added the Axiom part of the station will become more and more independent until it can separate from ISS and operate as it's own space independent station.
This announcement is a part of NASAs plan to foster commercial partnerships in orbit so that they can eventually become users of commercial stations instead of owning and operating their own such as the ISS.
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