Axiom Space has announced that they are creating an office park and manufacturing facility at Houston SpacePort at Ellington Field.
The development is an optimistic sign that, despite a slowdown by Congress, a commercial resale 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 occurred between the end of the space shuttle program and the first launch of the SpaceX commercial team’s Dragon mission.
When Jim Bridenstine
James (Jim) Frederick BridenstineNASA-Canada agreement shows how Artemis is an international moon NASA selects next Artemis moon walkers while SpaceX flies Starship First to the sound barrier break, Chuck Yeager dies at 97 MORE to become a NASA astronaut, one of the questions he faced was what should be done about maintaining a presence in Earth ‘s low orbit after the ISS. The idea is that he and NASA experts have been pushing to encourage private companies to build their own space station. NASA would provide much-needed support by pledging to be an anchor subscriber for such facilities. However, the commercial space stations also had to find private customers.
The problem is that Congress has been very firm when it comes to raising real money for this approach. The 2020 fiscal budget bid included $ 150 million for commercial space stations. Congress sponsored a private laboratory for a total of $ 15 million. The 2020 fiscal budget bid again raised the bid for $ 150 million. Congress chose to be a little more generous: $ 17 million.
It is not that Congress is opposed to maintaining a human presence in the Earth ‘s low orbit. In fact, as Space.com reports, the Senate version of NASA’s authorization bill extends the operating life of the ISS to 2030. Considering the flow of scientific and technological discoveries that have flowed from the orbiting laboratory, no it is difficult to see why. Early critics of the ISS, including the late James Van Allen, have been disappointed.
Congress does not appear to have any urgency about planning for a future after ISS. The year 2030 is almost 10 years away. The elected politicians are doing what they do best, kicking the can down the road.
In the meantime, NASA is doing what it can, with the resources provided, to help start the commercial space station business. An inflatable module called BEAM, courtesy of Bigelow Aerospace, has been connected to the ISS for the past three years. Unfortunately, a number of factors, not the least of which has been a coronavirus pandemic, have forced Bigelow to dismiss all of its staff. Bigelow is now seeking funding from NASA for a free-to-air space station created with its affordable models, primarily using a technology developed by space agencies called TransHab.
Axiom Space won the node for connecting one of its own modules to the ISS. Without waiting for Congress to fund funding for NASA, Axiom has announced a facility to make space station models at the Ellington SpacePort in Houston. 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 business. Other stakeholders should be impressed by a company ‘s willingness to invest in building private space station pieces. Axiom should be able to attract commercial customers who are willing to pay to spend time in an orbiting research lab.
The location of the Axiom facility in Texas is no accident. The Texas conference delegation, for obvious reasons, has been supportive of NASA and, increasingly, of the commercial space sector that has expanded its presence in Lone Star State in recent years. Good old-fashioned politics that force House members and seniors to favor funding projects that mean jobs in their states come with a strong space policy to help increase funding in the years to come.
It’s very no coincidence that the Axiom facility is about a five-hour journey from the ever-growing SpaceX spaceport in Boca Chica near southern Texas. Undoubtedly the Head of SpaceX Elon Musk
Wealthiest Elon Reeve MuskWorld .8T Added to Wealth Together in 2020 Trump ends Obama’s 12-year run as the most honorable: Apple’s Gallup CEO did not submit a meeting request to consider sales Tesla, Musk says MORE we would be happy to launch finished models into space, using the powerful Starship rocket, followed by crews and cargo.
In the midst of a pandemic, part of the future of space is unfolding in South Texas. This time it is led by the private sector. NASA had the best jump on board or the risk of being left behind.
Mark Whittington, a regular contributor to space and politics, has published a political study on space exploration called 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 has been published in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, The Hill, USA Today, the LA Times and the Washington Post, among other places.