Blue Origin and Sierra Space have announced plans to build the Orbital Reef commercial space station in low Earth orbit. According to the partners, “the station will usher in a new chapter in human space exploration and exploration, contributing to the development of a vibrant ecosystem and business model of the future.” The Orbital Reef Program has been supported by space industry leaders including Boeing, Redwire Space, Genesis Engineering Solutions and Arizona State University.
As conceived by the creators of the station, it will open up many new markets in space, giving customers the opportunity to “get their own address in orbit.” The partners expect to offer research, industrial and commercial customers a competitively priced one-stop service, including space transportation and logistics, space deployment, equipment deployment and operation, including crew accommodation on board the station.
Orbital Reef is supposed to be used as a “mixed-use business park” in space. The common infrastructure will effectively support the private needs of various tenants and visitors. Delivery and return of people and cargo will be entrusted to the reusable space transport. Coupled with advanced automation and logistics, it will minimize cost and complexity for both traditional space operators and new entrants. The open system architecture will allow any customer or country to connect to the project and will provide the ability to scale to meet demand by adding new modules.
The station is expected to start operating in the second half of this decade.
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