Quote from: BrightLight on 10/06/2016 07:44 pmThe Cis-Lunar facility will be built in the mid to late 2020's, Axiom is one of the NextStep awardees - for a project to evaluate using launch vehicle stages as potential habitable modules.Too bad we're just at the point where launch vehicles are switching over to being reusable. No free upper stages floating around any more.
The Cis-Lunar facility will be built in the mid to late 2020's, Axiom is one of the NextStep awardees - for a project to evaluate using launch vehicle stages as potential habitable modules.
Quote from: FutureSpaceTourist on 04/12/2017 06:28 pmSomehow I don't think Bigelow Aerospace will agree that Axiom is building the first commercial space station ...Bigelow hasn't built one yet. They've built some pressure vessels, but nothing complete enough to be called a space station. That said, it'll be interesting to see who makes it to market first.~Jon
Somehow I don't think Bigelow Aerospace will agree that Axiom is building the first commercial space station ...
Quote from: ChrisWilson68 on 04/13/2017 04:08 amQuote from: BrightLight on 10/06/2016 07:44 pmThe Cis-Lunar facility will be built in the mid to late 2020's, Axiom is one of the NextStep awardees - for a project to evaluate using launch vehicle stages as potential habitable modules.Too bad we're just at the point where launch vehicles are switching over to being reusable. No free upper stages floating around any more.The original poster was incorrect--it's a NanoRacks/MDA/ULA team ("Ixion") that has the NextSTEP BAA contract for looking at wet stations, not Axiom. As for launch vehicles all becoming fully reusable in the near future so there are no free upper stages floating around... I'm politely skeptical.
Quote from: jongoff on 04/12/2017 10:31 pmQuote from: FutureSpaceTourist on 04/12/2017 06:28 pmSomehow I don't think Bigelow Aerospace will agree that Axiom is building the first commercial space station ...Bigelow hasn't built one yet. They've built some pressure vessels, but nothing complete enough to be called a space station. That said, it'll be interesting to see who makes it to market first.~JonTrue Bigelow haven't built one yet (although Robert Bigelow said last year he'd now committed to build the first one and was no longer waiting for a crew ride to orbit to be available). But unless I've missed something big, Bigelow has both built and flown a lot more than Axiom.So right now why wouldn't Bigelow be favourite to be the first ahead of Axiom?
Quote from: jongoff on 04/13/2017 04:09 pmQuote from: ChrisWilson68 on 04/13/2017 04:08 amQuote from: BrightLight on 10/06/2016 07:44 pmThe Cis-Lunar facility will be built in the mid to late 2020's, Axiom is one of the NextStep awardees - for a project to evaluate using launch vehicle stages as potential habitable modules.Too bad we're just at the point where launch vehicles are switching over to being reusable. No free upper stages floating around any more.The original poster was incorrect--it's a NanoRacks/MDA/ULA team ("Ixion") that has the NextSTEP BAA contract for looking at wet stations, not Axiom. As for launch vehicles all becoming fully reusable in the near future so there are no free upper stages floating around... I'm politely skeptical.Yeah, the poster who said this was Axiom was wrong. But about launch vehicles becoming fully reusable in the "near future", keep in mind that the quote I'm replying to says "mid to late 2020's". Both SpaceX and Blue Origin seem to be on a path to full reusability well before then. Sure, it may not happen, but I think there's a decent chance it will.
Quote from: ChrisWilson68 on 04/13/2017 05:25 pmQuote from: jongoff on 04/13/2017 04:09 pmQuote from: ChrisWilson68 on 04/13/2017 04:08 amQuote from: BrightLight on 10/06/2016 07:44 pmThe Cis-Lunar facility will be built in the mid to late 2020's, Axiom is one of the NextStep awardees - for a project to evaluate using launch vehicle stages as potential habitable modules.Too bad we're just at the point where launch vehicles are switching over to being reusable. No free upper stages floating around any more.The original poster was incorrect--it's a NanoRacks/MDA/ULA team ("Ixion") that has the NextSTEP BAA contract for looking at wet stations, not Axiom. As for launch vehicles all becoming fully reusable in the near future so there are no free upper stages floating around... I'm politely skeptical.Yeah, the poster who said this was Axiom was wrong. But about launch vehicles becoming fully reusable in the "near future", keep in mind that the quote I'm replying to says "mid to late 2020's". Both SpaceX and Blue Origin seem to be on a path to full reusability well before then. Sure, it may not happen, but I think there's a decent chance it will.Even in a world where the norm is to recover upper stages, that doesn't mean that purchasing one for reuse on orbit as a facility will be out of the question. It's just another form of reuse.
As interesting a discussion as that may be, it's only here because of a misattribution. Perhaps an Ixion thread is warranted?
Node 1 and Node 2 do not look like the ISS node modules. Note the endcaps look the same as the habitation module. My guess is Alenia will be making all new modules for Axiom based on ISS designs.
I know this is not all final, but I don't see any radiators on this design. Am I missing something? Other than that, this looks pretty cool.