Blue Origin's Orbital Reef space station gets the green light from NASA

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By Matthew Griffin Space 29th August 2022

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF

As the ISS starts getting retired we need replacements, and those replacements are coming from the private sector.

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The International Space Station (ISS) has been a key part of humanity’s presence in space for years, but its useful life is coming to an end with NASA and other stakeholders currently planning on ending ISS operations by 203. But what comes next? Well, for the past couple of years NASA has been funding the Commercial Low-Earth Orbit Development Program (CLD) to encourage aerospace firms to build new stations, and they just gave a proposal from Blue Origin and Sierra Space the green light to move forward.

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The station, known as Orbital Reef, was submitted to NASA for System Definition Review (SDR) earlier this summer. This report allowed the agency to assess the feasibility of the design, and it’s good news for Blue Origin and Sierra Space — NASA believes the companies have the technology and expertise to successfully build the Orbital Reef. Initial timelines project that construction could begin in 2026, and the station could begin operating as early as 2027. But, whereas space on the ISS was controlled exclusively by partnering space agencies, these new commercial projects will be different.

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“The microgravity factories and services provided by Orbital Reef have the potential to revolutionize every industry and become a major growth contributor to the US and world economies,” said Tom Vice, CEO of Sierra Space. Other partners in the endeavour include Amazon, Boeing, and Arizona State University.

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The Orbital Reef project will have space to house 10 astronauts in a volume comparable to the final ISS configuration. There will be advanced laboratories for microgravity experiments, manufacturing capacity, and yes, accommodations for space tourists.

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Sierra describes it as a “mixed-use business park” in space and have released a host of concept renders, with the final design still subject to change. Having completed the NASA SDR, the companies are now free to move to the design phase.

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Space tourism is one of the main focuses of Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, which is already flying people up to the edge of space in its New Shepard rocket. Future versions of the rocket could eventually reach low-Earth orbit to rendezvous with the Orbital Reef. Sierra Space meanwhile is working on a space plane known as Dream Chaser that could also reach the station — you can see a few of them floating around the station in the concept renders. It’s larger than New Shepard with a payload capacity of 12,000 pounds (55,443 kilograms). It’s unclear if that vehicle will be ready any time soon, but Boeing has committed to using Starliner for crew and cargo transportation for Orbital Reef.

Matthew Griffin / About Author

Matthew Griffin, described as “The Adviser behind the Advisers” and a “Young Kurzweil,” is the founder and CEO of the World Futures Forum and the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures consultancy working across the next 50 years, and is an award winning futurist, and author of “Codex of the Future” series.

Regularly featured in the global media, including AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, RT, Viacom, and WIRED, Matthew’s ability to identify, track, and explain the impacts of hundreds of revolutionary emerging technologies on global culture, industry and society, is unparalleled. Recognised for the past six years as one of the world’s foremost futurists, innovation and strategy experts Matthew is an international speaker who helps governments, investors, multi-nationals and regulators around the world envision, build and lead an inclusive, sustainable future.

A rare talent Matthew’s recent work includes mentoring Lunar XPrize teams, re-envisioning global education and training with the G20, and helping the world’s largest organisations envision and ideate the future of their products and services, industries, and countries.

Matthew's clients include three Prime Ministers and several governments, including the G7, Accenture, Aon, Bain & Co, BCG, Credit Suisse, Dell EMC, Dentons, Deloitte, E&Y, GEMS, Huawei, JPMorgan Chase, KPMG, Lego, McKinsey, PWC, Qualcomm, SAP, Samsung, Sopra Steria, T-Mobile, and many more.