Spaceflight 🚀Where to book and what else to consider for your private #spaceflight 🚀 https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Space
#SpaceStations will be occupied by civilians as #tourists and employees. A “learning period” gives the industry considerable leeway to #experiment with humans 👨🚀. We need health ⚕️ #research now to protect future civilians in #space 🌌 https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/health-research-is-needed-now-before-sending-civilians-to-space/
National Library of Medicine ⚕️ "As the scope of human #spaceflight expands, the risk ☣️ to space #travelers expands as well" https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10485075/
Updates to the NASA human system risk management process for space exploration
This paper describes updates to NASA’s approach for assessing and mitigating spaceflight-induced risks to human health and performance. This approach continues to evolve to meet dynamically changing risk environments: lunar missions are currently ...
The team found that 91 per cent 📊 of genes were affected, with many switching on and off at the wrong time of day. “#SpaceTravel was once thought to be unachievable; however, the growth of the #SpaceIndustry means it is now a real possibility. In addition, new plans are in place for #UK 🇬🇧 #astronauts 👨🚀 going to the #ISS in 📆 2025 via the UK #SpaceAgency #Axiom programme.” https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/03/18/jetlag-astronauts-travel-space-lag/
"The inflatable 🎈 structures are not as fragile as they might seem. They are constructed of a fabric similar to the Kevlar material used in bulletproof vests, and their multiple layers offer a good degree of #radiation ☢️ protection. There are plans to use them to build small hotels for #SpaceTourists." https://english.elpais.com/science-tech/2023-03-06/nasas-plans-for-the-end-of-the-iss-private-space-stations-and-hotels-with-an-earth-view.html
🇨🇳 #CAS Space said that its vehicle will include a tourist cabin that has four panoramic windows and can carry seven passengers per flight. The company plans to arrange a launch 🚀 every 100 hours from a newly-built aerospace theme park, with ten vehicles available to take tourists to the edge of space 🌌 in shifts.
Tickets will cost $415,127 💵 per person per trip https://www.reuters.com/science/chinese-state-backed-company-launch-space-tourism-flights-by-2028-2024-05-17/
#Politico 📆 11/02/2022 : Don’t count on being #rescued — by #NASA or the #SpaceForce, or even the company that built your private #spaceship.
#Seafaring ⛵ explorers traditionally sailed with #additional #ships, #Apollo missions included #redundant capsules that proved crucial in #saving the #Apollo13 astronauts. #Skylab had #rescue #rockets and #spacecraft on #standby for in-#orbit #emergencies https://www.politico.com/news/2022/11/02/space-rescue-service-astronauts-00064633
Wolf480pl@spaceflight
> A first step, it said, is ensuring all crewed spacecraft have common docking mechanisms so they can rendezvous in an emergency.
A lot of them already use IDSS / NDS, but wikipedia claims[1] that the ones on Dragon 2 and Starliner are active-only. If that's true, that'd be a problem during a rescue mission
Also, I don't understand why someone would install an active-only APAS derivative... is it that much cheaper than a dual-mode passive/active one?
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Docking_System_Standard
The Queen of Weltschmerz🏳️⚧️
@rebelrebel62 On April 29, 2002, #NASA announced that it was cancelling the CRV and X-38 programs, due to budget pressures associated with other elements of the #ISS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crew_Return_Vehicle#Cancellation
@spaceflight Maybe it’s a use case for Dream Chaser?
@rebelrebel62 for any more reliable vehicle than Starliner 🙄, but it needs to be ready to launch
@rebelrebel62 last year #NASA "asked #SpaceX a few questions on their capability to return additional crew members on Dragon if necessary, but that is not our prime focus at this time" https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/nasa-mulls-spacex-backup-plan-crew-russias-leaky-soyuz-ship-2022-12-28/
NASA mulls SpaceX backup plan for crew of Russia's leaky Soyuz ship
NASA is exploring whether SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft can potentially offer an alternative ride home for some crew members of the International Space Station after a Russian capsule sprang a coolant leak while docked to the orbital lab.
The #ISS isolated strains were mutated and became genetically and functionally distinct compared to their #Earth counterparts. The strains were able to viably persist in the ISS over time with a significant abundance. E. bugandensis coexisted with multiple other #microorganisms 🦠, and in some cases could have helped those organisms survive. https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/ames/ames-science/ames-space-biosciences/multi-drug-resistant-bacteria-found-on-iss-mutating-to-become-functionally-distinct/
New #biological insights allowed to engineer phages with far superior activity against drug-resistant pathogens back on Earth. #SpaceStation phages gradually accumulated specific mutations that boosted their infectivity, or their ability to bind receptors on #bacterial 🦠 cells https://www.independent.co.uk/space/virus-bacteria-international-space-station-phages-strong-b2900199.html
During a large #solar ☀️ energetic particle event, the #radiation ☢️ dosage an #astronaut 👨🚀 receives inside a #SpaceSuit could exceed 1,000 times 📈 the dosage someone on #Earth receives. That would exceed an astronaut’s recommended lifetime limit by 10 times. Once a forecaster detects 🔭 a #SolarFlare or #CME, the high-energy particles usually arrive to Earth in less than an hour ⏱️. But astronauts on the #Moon’s 🌙 surface would need more time than that to seek shelter. https://www.astronomy.com/space-exploration/space-weather-forecasting-needs-an-upgrade-to-protect-future-artemis-astronauts/
"No #astronauts 👨🚀 have ever viewed Earth from the vantage point of a polar orbit. Such orbits are favored by commercial photo-reconnaissance satellites 🛰️ because they fly over the entire planet as it rotates beneath them." https://www.cbsnews.com/news/spacex-to-launch-bitcoin-entrepreneur-and-three-crewmates-on-flight-around-earths-poles/
Maybe they see more than the #HiRes cams with their 👓 ❓🤔
SpaceX to launch bitcoin entrepreneur and three crewmates on flight around Earth's poles
The historic, privately financed space flight will carry humans above Earth's ice caps for the first time.
The fatality rate of people traveling in space is about 3%. That sounds low, but it's higher than extreme sports. Since 📆 1930, improvements in technology 🔧 and safety features have lowered the number of fatal 💀 accidents in the #aviation industry per million miles flown by a factor of 3,000 〽️ https://phys.org/news/2024-09-space-spacex-polaris-dawn-mission.html
Space travel comes with risk—SpaceX's Polaris Dawn mission will push the envelope further than ever
Space is an unnatural environment for humans. We can't survive unprotected in a pure vacuum for more than two minutes. Getting to space involves being strapped to a barely contained chemical explosion.
Bernd@spaceflight the current target rate for fatal accidents for human space flights is 1 in 270, which is an order of magnitude lower than 3%, but sitll ridiculously high compared to other means of transport. Starliner wouldn't even meet that modest goal.
@hopfgeist with its “darn near-flawless” performance ? 🤔 https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/boeings-starliner-crew-mission-returns-to-earth-but-its-astronauts-are-still/
The team at #VoyagerStation has already assured the public that as #SpaceTourism 👩🚀 becomes more commonplace, they hope to eventually make a stay 🛏️ affordable for all. https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/worlds-first-hotel-in-space
20 things to see 📷 on the #Moon https://www.astronomy.com/observing/things-to-see-on-the-moon-an-observers-guide-to-lunar-names/
🧭 #Navigation : #Marble is a virtual globe 🌐 application which allows the user to choose among the #Earth, the #Moon, #Venus, #Mars and other planets 🪐 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marble_(software) | https://marble.kde.org
"Think of something profound to say on your arrival. Things that the #Apollo astronauts 👨🚀 said on their arrival includes [...] https://en.wikivoyage.org/w/index.php?title=Moon
4️⃣0️⃣ #SpaceStation & #SpaceHabitat companies https://www.factoriesinspace.com/space-stations
📆 2026 StarMax 400 m3 #Gravitics
📆 2026 LIFE Pathfinder 285 m3 #SierraSpace
📆 2026 Axiom Station #AxiomSpace
📆 2027 Haven-1 80 m3 #VastSpace
📆 2027 Lunar Gateway 125 m3 #NASA #ESA #CSA #JAXA
📆 2027 Orbital Reef 830 m3 #BlueOrigin #SierraSpace
📆 2027 Russian Orbital Service Station #Roscosmos
📆 2028 Starlab ~450 m3 #NanoRacks #VoyagerSpace #Airbus #MDASpace #Mitsubishi
📆 2028 Bharatiya Antariksha Station 265 m3 #ISRO
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_space_stations#Planned_and_proposed
"We now know it’s possible to equal or surpass the total habitable volume of the entire International #SpaceStation, in a single launch” 🚀 https://spacenews.com/sierra-space-conducts-second-full-scale-burst-test-of-inflatable-module/
60sRefugee@spaceflight Plus, for the first time since Skylab, we may have an orbital module wider than a hallway on the inside.
Von Braun Space Station 1956
• #AxiomStation is believed to have been downsized to two modules from the originally planned four.
• The #VAST #Haven-2’s first module is scheduled to launch in 📆 2028
• #OrbitalReef is designed with 830 cubic meters of internal volume, 90 percent of the internal volume on the #ISS
• #Starlab launch is scheduled for 📆 2028
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2024/10/commercial-space-stations/
• The #VAST #Haven-2’s first module is scheduled to launch in 📆 2028
• #OrbitalReef is designed with 830 cubic meters of internal volume, 90 percent of the internal volume on the #ISS
• #Starlab launch is scheduled for 📆 2028
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2024/10/commercial-space-stations/
#Competition accelerates #innovation : "What if we actually build a #SpaceStation, launch 🚀 it in #orbit, have a crew 👨🚀 of four go to it, spend two weeks at least in the space station, and come back home safely…before the U.S. #government makes their decision?” (in 📆 2026) https://youtu.be/us_V_e0-NVs?feature=shared&t=205
The Race to Replace the ISS | VAST's American-Made Space Station
The primary structure of the #SpaceStation was built in just 15 months. #Haven1 is expected to be launched in 📆 May 2026. It consists of a cylindrical module measuring 10 meters in length and 4.40 meters in diameter. The 45 cubic meter habitat got 1.10 meter windows. Four #Haven2 modules are to be in space by 📆 2030. The station is to grow to nine modules by 📆 2032. https://www.heise.de/en/news/Haven-1-Vast-Space-wants-to-launch-its-private-space-station-into-space-in-2026-10277222.html
#ThalesAlenia Space Italia 🇮🇹 will deliver the Payload Power Thermal Module to Axiom in 2025 for final outfitting and a launch 🚀 no earlier than 📆 2027. Axiom would then launch the first #habitat module, #Hab1, in 📆 2028 https://spacenews.com/axiom-space-revises-space-station-assembly-plans
The Gravitics #SpaceStation modules range from 3 meters to 8 meters 📏 in diameter. The company aims to provide space station modules as a plug-and-play product line that can launch on a variety of #rockets. #Gravitics plans to have a subscale spacecraft launched by 📆 2026 https://www.cnbc.com/2024/07/09/gravitics-lands-125-million-order-from-axiom.html
#Musk has likely told #Trump that #NASA does not need to fund private space stations in #LEO. A version of #Starship could be developed to provide a semi-permanent presence. This would wreck the business plans of multiple #US companies working to provide this capability for NASA. https://arstechnica.com/features/2025/02/elon-musk-recommends-that-the-international-space-station-be-deorbited-asap/
#Vast has completed the final weld on the primary structure of its #Haven1 private #SpaceStation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2qFOJc8iZo
Next steps include integrating the flight article's hatch and a domed window. The #Falcon9 for the launch is booked, and liftoff could take place as soon as the second quarter of 📆 2026 https://www.space.com/space-exploration/human-spaceflight/vast-gearing-up-to-launch-its-haven-1-private-space-station-in-2026
Next steps include integrating the flight article's hatch and a domed window. The #Falcon9 for the launch is booked, and liftoff could take place as soon as the second quarter of 📆 2026 https://www.space.com/space-exploration/human-spaceflight/vast-gearing-up-to-launch-its-haven-1-private-space-station-in-2026
Haven-1 Virtual Reality - Available Now for Download
• #Vast plans to send the 45 m3 #Haven1 to orbit in 📆 2026, the 55 m3 #Haven2 in 📆 2028
• #AxiomSpace plans to launch its first module to the #ISS in 📆 2027, later joined by two 11 x 4.2 meter (145 m3) habitable modules
• #Airbus and #VoyagerSpace plan to launch the 450 m3 #Starlab 📆 2028
• #SierraSpace and #BlueOrigin start operating the 830 m3 #OrbitalReef by the end of the decade
Kilometer-Scale #SpaceStructures will rely heavily on recent advances in mechanical metamaterials that have shown the potential to expand to 150 times their compressed size. It could rotate to create artificial #gravity without giving its inhabitants motion sickness 🤢 https://www.me.washington.edu/news/article/2021-02-25/nasa-selects-lipton-futuristic-space-concept
A high-expansion-ratio structure can be deployed to a final length of one kilometer on #orbit 🌌 as part of a large #SpaceStation https://www.nasa.gov/general/kilometer-scale-space-structures-from-a-single-launch-2/
When will #SpaceTourism to orbit 🌌 or beyond be available other than to the #ISS, #Tiangong or (to stay) in a #Dragon / #Starliner capsule ? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_tourism#Orbital_space_tourism
#Haven2 #Starlab #OrbitalReef #VoyagerSpace #VoyagerStation #journalism #SpaceHotel #Starship #NewGlenn #Gaganyaan #HumanSpaceflight
2027
2028
2029
> 2030
Poll ended at .
#ISS : 2001 Dennis Tito 2002 Mark Shuttleworth 2005 Gregory Olsen 2006 Anousheh Ansari 2007, 2009 Charles Simonyi 2008 Richard Garriott 2009 Guy Laliberté 2021 Yusaku Maezawa, Yozo Hirano 2022 Eytan Stibbe, Larry Connor, Mark Pathy 2023 John Shoffner
#LEO : 2021 Jared Isaacman, Sian Proctor, Hayley Arceneaux, Christopher Sembroski 2024 Jared Isaacman, Scott Poteet, Sarah Gillis, Anna Menon 2025 Chun Wang, Jannicke Mikkelsen, Eric Philips, Rabea Rogge
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_tourism#List_of_space_tourism_trips
13 private #visitors from seven countries 🌍 have visited the #ISS https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station/space-station-visitors-by-country
#NASA is supporting the development of #commercially-owned and operated #LEO destinations from which NASA, along with other #customers 🧑🚀, can purchase #services 🛌 🍽️ https://www.nasa.gov/reference/jsc-orbital-space-stations/#hds-sidebar-nav-4
Phase 2 includes an in-space crewed 🧑🚀 demonstration of four crew members for a minimum of 30 days. The agency’s phased approach will culminate in a full and open #competition https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/commercial-space/leo-economy/nasa-seeks-industry-input-on-next-phase-of-commercial-space-stations
#Axiom Station is designed to look like a boutique #hotel and is expected to launch in 📆 2028. #VoyagerSpace aims to launch its version, called #Starlab, the same year, and #BlueOrigin’s #OrbitalReef #SpaceStation plans to follow in 2030.
While the cost of a stay aboard any of these outposts has not been released, expect ticket 🎫 prices in the tens of millions of dollars at first https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/01/12/1130030/commercial-space-stations-2026-breakthrough-technology/
The first #LIFE module for #OrbitalReef is a three-story structure, 8 meters in diameter 📏, a massive amount of open, configurable volume. #Blue Origin is providing the #NewGlenn heavy-lift launch 🚀 capability. A realistic operational date is estimated to be post-📆 2028.
#Starlab launch date 📆 2028: if the single launch on #Starship works, they will have a complete station in orbit overnight ⏱️.
As of late 2025, #Axiom is winning the hardware race https://newspaceeconomy.ca/2025/11/14/what-is-orbital-reef
What Is Orbital Reef? - New Space Economy
For more than two decades, the International Space Station (ISS) has served as humanity's outpost in low Earth orbit. It stands as an unparalleled achievement in global cooperation, engineering, and orbital science. Floating 250 miles above the planet, it has been continuously occupied by humans since the year 2000, hosting thousands of experiments that have advanced fields from human biology to materials science. It is, in every sense, a laboratory, a home, and a symbol.
Isaac Ji Kuo@spaceflight My god this is so much stupider than I ever thought. It's just a grift for funneling taxpayer money to billionaire techbros.
"The goal is to transition NASA from being an owner and operator of orbital infrastructure to being just one of many customers in a new, robust, and commercially-run economy in low Earth orbit."
Translation - we are stupid. There aren't any other customers.
"A “Mixed-Use Business Park” in Space"
That's just throwing money at techbros for nothing.
Heck,
@spaceflight business parks here on Earth are just throwing money at already wealthy techbros for NOTHING. It's like how taxpayer money is thrown into football stadiums for basically no benefits, but at least in that case a fraction of the taxpayers nevertheless support it because they're sports fans and they don't mind forcing their neighbors to pay for something they don't want.
Techbro business parks? The promise everything and deliver nothing, even here on Earth. In space? Forget about it.
@spaceflight I remember back when the big thing was tech business parks for big spam phone call centers. Like they seriously thought this was the big thing that was going to bring lots of great jobs to a city.
Like we were going to love all these great jobs randomly calling each other to try and spam and scam each other.
And I felt like I was taking crazy pills. How did anyone not see that this was even dumber than turnips?
@isaackuo I think I didn't get the point, is it something about the bad parts of #competition ? https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Competition
@spaceflight No, not a problem with competition, but rather a problem with lack of business potential. We've been hearing the same things about manned space manufacturing and such since the Space Shuttle in the 1970s. The business case simply is not there.
There's a case to be made that we want manned spaceflight anyway, and a spin gravity station to study the physiological effects of lunar/martian gravity is worthwhile.
But business profit? That's nonsense. Just a grift to bilk taxpayers.
@isaackuo I presume the majority of manufacturing will be #robotic, but they predict a market "from mining and construction to #hospitality" https://www.pwc.com/us/en/industries/industrial-products/library/space-industry-trends.html. There are enough potential "first customers" for #SpaceTourism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of_billionaires and just as in aviation #LaunchCost prices will fall (as soon as enough human-rated rockets are available). There are at least several dozen companies which believe in business potential https://www.factoriesinspace.com/space-stations
@spaceflight Space Tourism is a dud, and investors are wising up to this. That's why these loser startups have turned to saying they'll get money from NASA and (ha ha ha) "other" paying customers for manned space station space. It's pathetic.
They're all chasing a severely limited amount of NASA money, and there isn't enough to keep even one of them afloat, much less several dozen.
woe2you@isaackuo @spaceflight There are 70ish national space agencies and a handful of international ones. I agree that privatisation is a grift, but NASA isn't the only target.
@woe2you @spaceflight I need you to look at this chart of space agency budgets by country.
NASA is the only target.
@isaackuo @spaceflight I'm getting a 403 on that.
@woe2you @spaceflight Look up space agency budgets by country yourself, then. It's not difficult.
Global space agency spending is NASA, CNSA in a far second, and rounding errors.
@isaackuo @spaceflight It's a little difficult when Cloudfront decides I can't get to Statista at all and I should probably be spending my energy on resolving that instead, but the figures I'm seeing say CNSA, ESA, ISRO and JAXA combined make up a bigger slice of the pie than NASA.
I get that it's pointless arguing with US defaultism especially when it's delivered in such a condescending manner so I'm just going to bow out now.
@woe2you @spaceflight US defaultism would be assuming that China has any interesting in renting volatile for-profit American techbro space station space, when they have their own space station that costs them a lot less money and will actually stay operating in orbit because it has a stable funding source and a stable supporting infrastructure.
And the orange moron in the White House has burned bridges so forget about ESA and Canada. And India? Seriously?
Maybe JAXA might still buy American.
📆 April 2026 #CLD Phase 2 awards trigger immediate hiring, facility investment, and supply chain commitments. Initial module launches 🚀 anticipated in 📆 2028-2029 for most designs. NASA requires stations to achieve operational capability before #ISS deorbit, currently planned for 2030. Companies must execute flawlessly or risk losing #NASA’s anchor tenancy to competitors who deliver operational capability 🌌 first https://www.exterrajsc.com/p/congressional-budget-victory-cements
raptop (𒀯 𒄷 𒄈𒀭𒁇)@spaceflight I took the optimistic approach since it looks like Haven-1 is much closer to launch than I was expecting.
@spaceflight Assuming that everything we do in space has to be compressed into the payload fairing of a rocket and launched in one piece.
If we're ever going to truly be a spacefaring species we are eventually going to have to learn to BUILD stuff there.
If we're ever going to truly be a spacefaring species we are eventually going to have to learn to BUILD stuff there.
@60sRefugee do you mean by #AsteroidMining or just the construction from launched materials ?
@spaceflight The latter would certainly be a start; the former would imply an entire space-based industrial infrastructure which we're still a long way from.
@60sRefugee Some are just waiting for lower #LaunchCost https://www.factoriesinspace.com/space-resources
