Axiom Space has announced that it is creating an office park and manufacturing center at Houston SpacePort in Ellington Field.
The development is a promising sign that, despite dragging its feet by Congress, a commercial replacement for the International Space Station (ISS) may occur. The United States has the opportunity to avoid a “space gap” when the ISS reaches the end of its operational life, such as the one that happened between the end of the space shuttle program and the first launch of the Dragon Space mission. of the SpaceX commercial crew.
When Jim Bridenstine
James (Jim) Frederick BridenstineThe NASA-Canadian deal demonstrates how Artemis is an international opportunity for NASA to select the next Artemis moonwalkers as SpaceX flies with a spaceship First to break the sound barrier, Chuck Yeager dies at 97 MORE became administrator of NASA, one of the questions posed to him was what to do to maintain a low Earth orbit presence after the ISS. The idea he and NASA experts have pushed is to encourage private companies to build their own space station. NASA would provide the necessary support by committing to becoming an anchor tenant of these orbiting facilities. However, commercial space stations should also find private customers.
The problem is that Congress has been remarkably stingy when it comes to putting real money into this approach. The 2020 fiscal budget request included $ 150 million for commercial space stations. Congress funded support for private orbiting laboratories for a total of $ 15 million. The 2020 fiscal budget request repeated the $ 150 million request. Congress chose to be a little more generous: $ 17 million.
It’s not that Congress is opposed to maintaining a human presence in a low Earth orbit. In fact, according to Space.com, the Senate version of NASA’s licensing bill extends the operational life of the ISS until 2030. Given the flow of scientific and technological discoveries that have emerged from the lab in orbit, it is not difficult to see why. Early critics of the ISS, including the late James Van Allen, have been completely discredited.
It seems that Congress has no urgency when planning a post-ISS future. The year 2030 is almost ten years away. Elected politicians are doing what they do best, throwing the can down the road.
Meanwhile, NASA is doing what it can, given the resources allocated, to help propel a commercial space station industry. An inflatable module called BEAM, courtesy of Bigelow Aerospace, has joined the ISS for the past three years. Unfortunately, a number of factors, among which the coronavirus pandemic has been no less important, have forced Bigelow to lay off his entire staff. Bigelow is now seeking funding from NASA for a free-flying space station created with its inflatable modules, which ironically uses technology developed by space agencies called TransHab.
Axiom Space has earned the head for connecting one of its own modules to the ISS. In anticipation of Congress funding NASA funding, Axiom has announced a facility to manufacture space station modules at Houston’s Ellington SpacePort. The company will also have private astronaut training facilities.
In addition to employing 1,000 people, the new Axiom facility represents a commitment to creating a commercial space station industry. The fact that a company is willing to invest money to build the parts of a private space station should affect other stakeholders. Axiom should be able to attract commercial customers who were willing to pay for the time spent in an orbiting research lab.
The positioning of the Axiom facility in Texas is no coincidence either. The Texas Congressional delegation, for obvious reasons, has supported NASA and, increasingly, the commercial space sector that has expanded its presence at Lone Star State in recent years. Good old-fashioned policies that make members of the House and senators favor funding for projects that mean jobs in their states will be combined with a solid space policy to help increase funding in the coming years.
It’s probably no coincidence that the Axiom facility is a five-hour drive from the growing SpaceX spaceport at Boca Chica, near the southern tip of Texas. Without a doubt, CEO of SpaceX Elon Musk
Elon Reeve The richest people in the world of Musk added .8T to his combined wealth in 2020 Trump ends Obama’s 12-year career as the most admired man: Gallup CEO Apple ignored the request meeting to discuss the sale of Tesla, according to Musk. MONTH he would be happy to launch finished modules into space, using the powerful Starship rocket, and later crews and cargo.
In the midst of a pandemic, part of the space future is taking shape in South Texas. This time it is driven by the private sector. It’s best for NASA to get on board or risk being left behind.
Mark Whittington, who often writes about space and politics, has published a political study on space exploration entitled Why Is It So Hard to Go Back to the Moon? as well as “The Moon, Mars and Beyond.” He blogs at Curmudgeons Corner. It is published in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, The Hill, USA Today, LA Times and Washington Post, among others.