Space may be the final frontier, but it’s also the last place you would think to put a business park. Unless, of course, you’re Jeff Bezos. Although it’s far from what you might imagine a business park to be, Bezos’ Blue Origin has partnered with several aerospace interests to create the first commercial business park in space: Orbital Reef. They plan to have it up and running by the end of the 2020s, just in time to replace the soon-to-be decommissioned International Space Station (ISS).
As futuristic and far-fetched as a business park in space may sound, Bezos’ team isn’t the only one determined to create the world’s longest commute. Lockheed Martin has teamed with other space hopefuls to race Blue Origins to space with its Starlab. Although currently planned as a research station, Starlab is still considered a part of NASA’s Commercial Low-Earth Orbit Destination project, which supports the development of private space stations and is pushing the growth of a “space economy.”
In the case of Orbital Reef, there are already plans for long-term commercial occupants, who will each presumably have their own areas for research and other commercial activities (filmmaking and short-term residential leasing have been floated so far). The space station is being designed in pieces, like everything that goes into space. But, unlike many space objects, Orbital Reef is meant to become a modular space plaything, with the ability to accept many additional modules over time, allowing for virtually unlimited expansion as more companies find reasons to go to space.
This isn’t new tech; in fact, it’s already in use on a small scale at the ISS. But, because the ISS is aging and was never really designed with commercial potential in mind, NASA is pushing for more investment in furthering technology that will allow people to hang out in space.
“This is exciting for us because this project does not duplicate the immensely successful and enduring ISS, but rather goes a step further to fulfill a unique position in low Earth orbit, where it can serve a diverse array of companies and host non-specialist crews,” John Mulholland, Boeing program manager for the ISS, explained in a news release on Blue Origin’s website. “It calls for the same kind of expertise we used to first design and then build the International Space Station and the same skills we employ every day to operate, maintain and sustain the ISS.”
Everything from aerospace technology that supports space ventures to experimental food production, climate research, satellite support, and even medical applications could be made easier in low Earth orbit. Not everything needs or even benefits from having a lot of extra gravity hanging around.
Kristi Waterworth wrote this article for Millionacres, a Motley Fool service. Read the original article at this link: https://bit.ly/3DAvT9k