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Orbital Reef

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Orbital Reef
Station statistics
CrewInitially 6 (10+ in growth configuration)
LaunchBy 2027
Carrier rocketNew Glenn
Vulcan Centaur
Mission statusdevelopment
Pressurized volume830 m3 (29,000 cu ft)

Orbital Reef is an under development low Earth orbit (LEO) space station being designed by Blue Origin and Sierra Nevada Corporation's Sierra Space for commercial space activities and space tourism uses. Blue Origin has referred to it as a "mixed-use business park".[1] The companies released preliminary concepts for the station on 25 October 2021. The station is being designed to support 10 persons in 830 m3 of volume.[2] As of March 2022, the station was projected to be operational by 2027.[3]

History

RFP and proposal

Blue Origin and Sierra Space partnered with several other companies and institutions to submit the 2021 proposal:[4][5]

  • Blue Origin: Partner, providing vehicle utility core systems, large-diameter modules, and the reusable heavy-lift New Glenn launch system.
    • Amazon: logistics and supply chain management.
    • Amazon Web Services: AWS will provide a variety of integrated cloud services and tools to support both near-term and long-term technical requirements including space station development and design, flight operations, data management, enterprise architecture, integrated networking, logistics, and communications capabilities.[6]
  • Sierra Space: Partner, providing Large Integrated Flexible Environment (LIFE) modules, node modules, and runway-landing Dream Chaser spaceplane for crew and cargo transportation.
  • Boeing: Providing science modules, space station operations and maintenance, and the Starliner crew spacecraft.
  • Redwire Space: Providing payload operations and deployable structures, and support for microgravity research, development, and manufacturing.
  • Genesis Engineering Solutions: Providing the Single Person Spacecraft for routine external operations and tourist excursions.[8]
  • Arizona State University: Providing research advisory services and public outreach through a global consortium of fourteen leading universities.

NASA award and testing

On 2 December 2021, NASA announced it had selected Blue Origin as one of three companies to develop concept designs of space stations and other commercial destinations in space. Blue Origin was awarded $130 million.[9]

The contract with Blue was one of three funded Space Act Agreements (SAA) that NASA issued for the first phase of its Commercial LEO Destinations program (CLD).[10] Space Act Agreements provide limited funding for specific milestones to be achieved by the companies, and are distinct from more widely used Federal Acquisition Regulation FAR contracts used in most legacy NASA space programs, where NASA owns responsibility for both the design and the program requirements. The 2021 contract with Blue was just the first phase of two by which NASA is aiming to maintain an uninterrupted U.S. presence in low-Earth orbit by transitioning from the International Space Station to other platforms.[11][needs update]

In June 2023, ISRO chairman S Somanath told the Times of India that Blue Origin is “very keen” on considering using an Indian rocket as a crew capsule to service its proposed space station Orbital Reef in low-Earth orbit as a part of commercial ventures proposed by ISRO before the launch of the planned Indian Space Station .[12]

By October 2023, NASA reported they had paid out only US$24 million of the $130 million contract for completion of specific milestones. Also in early October, issues between Sierra Space and Blue Origin became public, and CNBC reported that the Orbital Reef website had not been updated in over a year, and that no hiring for the project is currently being done, as both companies have other larger space projects that are higher priorities for them. CNBC also reported that the two partners on the project may go their separate ways.[10] However, after talks between the companies, both companies tweeted on their Twitter accounts on 10 October that they were continuing to work with each other on the contract deliverables for Phase 1.[13]

In March 2024, NASA reported that Blue Origin had passed 4 test milestones relating to Orbital Reef.[14] More critical testing was reported to occur in Summer 2024 with successful burst tests of Sierra Space's LIFE modules.[15][16]

Description/design

Orbital Reef’s design is reported to be modular in nature, to provide the greatest amount of customization and compatibility. It will reportedly be designed to accept docking from almost every in operation spacecraft like SpaceX Dragon 2, Soyuz (spacecraft), Dream Chaser, and Boeing Starliner

The initial modules will be the: LIFE, Node, Core, and Research Modules.[17]

See also

References

  1. ^ Chappell, Bill (25 October 2021). "Blue Origin says it will build an orbiting mixed-use business park in space". NPR. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  2. ^ Grush, Loren (25 October 2021). "Blue Origin reveals plans for future commercial space station called Orbital Reef". The Verge. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  3. ^ "Orbital Reef: A Space Station for a New Economy in Space | IEEE-CNSV". Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  4. ^ Blue Origin. "Public announcement by Blue Origin, Sierra Space and several other companies and institutions" (PDF). Blue Origin.
  5. ^ Blue Origin (25 October 2021). "BLUE ORIGIN AND SIERRA SPACE DEVELOPING COMMERCIAL SPACE STATION New Orbital Destination Opens Up Space For Business And Travel, Creating New Ecosystem" (PDF). Blue Origin. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
  6. ^ "Amazon and AWS to reimagine space station operations and logistics for Orbital Reef". Amazon Web Services. 4 April 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  7. ^ "Sierra Space to work with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries on commercial space station technologies". SpaceNews. 17 March 2022. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  8. ^ "SPS".
  9. ^ Howell, Elizabeth (2 December 2021). "NASA awards $415 million for private space stations amid ISS transition questions". Space.com. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  10. ^ a b "Blue Origin, Sierra Space weigh future of Orbital Reef space station as partnership turns rocky". CNBC. 2 October 2023. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  11. ^ "NASA Selects Companies to Develop Commercial Destinations in Space". 2 December 2021.
  12. ^ "India in talks with Boeing, Blue Origin for space partnerships". The Times of India. 29 November 2023. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  13. ^ Sierra Space @SierraSpaceCo: We remain committed to @OrbitalReef and to the success of @NASA’s Commercial LEO Destinations (CLD) program. We look forward to the continued milestone progress on the Orbital Reef program and our next successful testing campaign for softgoods space station technology. Blue Origin @blueorigin : We’re fully committed to working with NASA to ensure a continued human presence in low Earth orbit. @SierraSpaceCo is a big part of this effort and continues to provide deliverables for our NASA CLD Phase 1 contract. We’re all in on CLD Phase 2., Sierra Space + Blue Origin, 10 October 1023.
  14. ^ NASA Sees Progress on Blue Origin’s Orbital Reef Life Support System
  15. ^ Saldana, Shay (2 May 2024). "Sierra Space Continues to Lead the Industry in the Development of the First Business-Ready Commercial Space Station". Sierra Space. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  16. ^ "NASA Supports Burst Test for Orbital Reef Commercial Space Station - NASA". 25 July 2024. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  17. ^ Zea, Luis; Warren, Liz; Ruttley, Tara; Mosher, Todd; Kelsey, Laura; Wagner, Erika (29 March 2024). "Orbital Reef and commercial low Earth orbit destinations—upcoming space research opportunities". npj Microgravity. 10 (1): 43. Bibcode:2024npjMG..10...43Z. doi:10.1038/s41526-024-00363-x. ISSN 2373-8065. PMC 10980796.
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