Private International Space Station To Replace ISS?

A private International Commercial Space Station is currently in the works to accommodate both government and private astronauts.

Space.com reported that the builders of Axiom International Commercial Space Station is currently under negotiations in creating a private orbiting outpost that will serve sovereign and non-sovereign astronauts as well as government and private research agencies from over 20 countries.

Once contracts are finalized, the Houston-based company will begin to conduct revenue and project developments. It will immediately start constructing the space station that will advance space tourism and deep space explorations.

The company has partnered with Made In Space, an enterprising company based in California that created 3D-printed materials for the International Space Station (ISS). The partnership will take care of the in-space manufacturing logistics such as in-space factory utilities, equipment, power and thermal management for future customers.

"Axiom and Made In Space are adding to the space ecosystem, serving a growing market and enabling innovative approaches from processes learned on the International Space Station," said Andrew Rush, CEO of Made In Space in the Axiom statement. "This partnership allows us to continue to evolve and develop new products and allow our customers to invest in space manufacturing knowing that there will be an ongoing human presence on orbit."

This project was driven by the possibility of an end to the ISS funding in 2024. However, NASA officials still hope that the $100 billion-worth space station will extend until 2028 despite the development of the ISS de-orbit plan.

"As you can imagine, we keep our ear very close to the rail on that," Axiom Space vice-president for strategic development Amir Blachman told Space.com. "We have to operate on the assumption that the ISS could be de-orbited in 2024 ... perhaps deorbited sometime after that. There are structural and operational limitations, specifically the growing cost to maintain the ISS."