The first private space station Starlab should enter orbit by 2027
Companies such as Nanoracks, Voyager Space, and Lockheed Martin have issued a joint statement on the intention to launch the first-ever private space station into low-earth orbit by 2027 year.
According to the plan, the station, which has already been named Starlab, will be not only a tourist site, but also a place for various laboratory experiments.
What is known about the first private space station
The Starlab station is designed for a crew of four and unlike the ISS and the Chinese national station, it will be launched into space in just one launch, which is scheduled for 2027.
At the same time, the station will be implemented from a residential module with a total volume of 340 cubic meters, power and propulsion units, laboratory installation, as well as a sufficiently large manipulator arms.
To understand the size of the station, it can be compared to the ISS. So the entire interior space of the International Space Station is 916 cubic meters, which can be compared with the interior space of the Boeing 747 airliner.
Whether the project of the first private orbital station in orbit will ultimately be implemented is an open question. But it is already known that the Starlab project may have competitors.
So the Axiom Space company announced its plans to send the first private module to the ISS already in 2024, and by 2027 to bring their number to four.
And a company like Sierra Space is actively engaged in its project, which is also working on the creation of a private space station. In addition, Blue Origin also began to show interest in private stations.
The space race is only gaining momentum and, as you can see, more and more private companies are joining this race. At first glance, the news about the first private orbital station seems unrealistic, but watching companies such as SpaceX, etc., I want to believe that everything will work out for private companies.
And we will still hear in the relatively near future that a private station is already working and is ready to receive tourists and carry out various experiments.
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