Beyond the ISS

Starship complements commercial space stations not replaces them

The International Space Station (ISS) is primarily used to research how microgravity, radiation and vacuum affect organic and inorganic systems. Research into space manufacturing is particularly important because it can improve techniques for producing existing materials or allow completely new materials to be born. However, there is more demand for ISS time than availability, which suggests there’s a ready made market for commercial space stations, particularly if they can lower costs. Hence NASA created the  Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development (CLD) Program to support private space station construction, and engaged Axiom Space to supply add on modules for the ISS, which eventually can separate to create an entirely new station.

Research has proved the viability of space manufacturing, so the next step is to develop the manufacturing process. Current costs are prohibitive because equipment racks need to be transported to the ISS on a cargo spacecraft, then installed on the station by qualified astronauts, who also need to be transported to the station on a separate spacecraft – then the process reversed to return all the equipment and astronauts. Hence commercial space stations are suitable for further research but it will require orders of magnitude lower cost to develop any full scale manufacturing process.

View of science research from the ISS cupola

SpaceX Strategy