Axiom delays launch of first space station module to ’26
Buried in a Space.com article today about Axiom was the important revelation that the company has now officially delayed the launch of its first space station module that will be attached to ISS from 2024 to 2026, with the rest of its follow-up modules delayed as well.
In January 2020, Axiom won NASA’s contract to construct the first commercially manufactured module for the ISS. “Our first module is going to be in 2026,” David Zuniga, senior director of in-space solutions at Axiom, told Space.com. This is an update to the company’s previously stated target of 2024.
Axiom’s first station component will attach to the forward port of the ISS’ Harmony module and serve as the springboard for the remaining pieces of the company’s planned space station architecture. Axiom is planning to attach a second module in 2027 and a third module a year later. Finally, a thermal power module, scheduled for sometime before 2030, will allow Axiom’s space station to detach from the ISS and become a free-flying, commercially run low Earth orbit (LEO) destination.
This schedule puts Axiom at some risk. ISS is likely going to be retired in 2030. Axiom has to therefore be able to detach its space station before that happens. It seems however with this new schedule that it might not be ready. And if it can’t, it will then need to arrange some deal with NASA and ISS’s international partners to either take over operations of ISS temporarily or convince these nations to operate it a little longer.
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Buried in a Space.com article today about Axiom was the important revelation that the company has now officially delayed the launch of its first space station module that will be attached to ISS from 2024 to 2026, with the rest of its follow-up modules delayed as well.
In January 2020, Axiom won NASA’s contract to construct the first commercially manufactured module for the ISS. “Our first module is going to be in 2026,” David Zuniga, senior director of in-space solutions at Axiom, told Space.com. This is an update to the company’s previously stated target of 2024.
Axiom’s first station component will attach to the forward port of the ISS’ Harmony module and serve as the springboard for the remaining pieces of the company’s planned space station architecture. Axiom is planning to attach a second module in 2027 and a third module a year later. Finally, a thermal power module, scheduled for sometime before 2030, will allow Axiom’s space station to detach from the ISS and become a free-flying, commercially run low Earth orbit (LEO) destination.
This schedule puts Axiom at some risk. ISS is likely going to be retired in 2030. Axiom has to therefore be able to detach its space station before that happens. It seems however with this new schedule that it might not be ready. And if it can’t, it will then need to arrange some deal with NASA and ISS’s international partners to either take over operations of ISS temporarily or convince these nations to operate it a little longer.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
”ISS is likely going to be retired in 2030.”
That’s the current plan, but don’t be surprised if ISS gets extended again, this time to 2035. ISS has always been extended incrementally, first from 2011 to 2016, then to 2020, then to 2024, then 2028, and now 2030.
ISS engineers are saying that with modest upgrades (such as the recently completed battery and solar panel upgrades) the USOS is good to 2035. Only the ROS is suspect before then. And I’m willing to bet that the Axiom modules will be able to take over the critical ROS functions once the Russians leave.
After 2035 ISS will need more extensive maintenance to remain viable, so that’s when I expect the plug to finally be pulled.
mkent: An excellent point about ISS’s likely extension. Two points in response however:
1. There are serious concerns about those Russian older modules, concerns that could even be catastrophic without warning. Any extension that ignores those concerns would be very foolish.
2. It is also a dangerous business plan for Axiom to plan its own space station depending on these extensions. The company is thus placing itself much more vulnerable to the whims of politics and international relations, a very uncertain thing, to be sure.
Nonetheless, I think you are right, and the odds of ISS being extended again are high. Much will depend when the private stations launch and become operational.
Robert: Correct, which is why I mention Axiom taking over the critical functions of the ROS should those modules fail. I’ve never seen anything said publicly, but I’d bet a hefty sum that that’s the backup plan.
Another hint that NASA doesn’t plan to abandon ISS any time soon: NASA just ordered a 4th set of iROSAs from Boeing.
Had to decrypt mkents acronyms. Is the below correct or have I missed something?
USOS – US Orbital Section? Mostly Lab, Living and docking sections? Contains a life support section?
ROS – Russian Orbital Section? Handles all ISS Guidance, Navigation, and Control functions? The Russian orbital section also has life support functions?
Are the two life support systems independent or co-dependent?
Looks like the Russian segment could get a long without the US segment (without many labs or living spaces) but US segment could not get a long without the Russian Guidance, Nav and Control functions?
iROSA – ISS Roll Out Solar Array? Feeds both Russian and US sections of ISS?
Doubting Thomas: My apologies. Yes, you have the acronyms correct. The ISS is essentially two largely independent space stations connected at the FGB.
The ROS consists of the FGB, the Docking and Stowage Module connected to it (nadir), the Service Module, Docking Compartment 2 connected to it (zenith), and the new Russian Lab and Node modules. Progress freighters and Soyuz capsules can dock only to the Russian modules. There are four such docking ports.
The USOS is everything else — basically what used to be called Space Station Freedom: the American, Japanese, and European pressurized modules, the long truss and solar panels, the Z1 truss with the Control Moment Gyros (CMGs), the Canadian robotics, and the Japanese and European exposed facilities. American and Japanese cargo freighters and American crew capsules can only dock or berth to the American node modules. There are two such berthing ports and two such docking ports.
The Russian life support system in the Service Module can support a three-man crew, and the American life support system in Node 3 can support a four-man crew. This is why the seven-man ISS crew is usually three Russians, three Americans, and one international, though there is often some horse trading of crew slots on the USOS side.
ISS GNC is usually under American control, which allows the CMGs to perform non-propulsive attitude control. However, from time to time the CMGs become saturated. At such times GNC is handed over to the ROS so that it can perform a thruster firing using either the Service Module or Progress engines while the CMGs desaturate. Control is also passed to the ROS during orbital reboot maneuvers. Control is passed back to the USOS after these firings are complete.
This makes the ISS entirely dependent on the ROS for propulsive maneuvers. It’s not all one way, however, as the Russian segment is insufficiently powered and draws several kilowatts of electrical power from the USOS. (The USOS generates about 20 times the electrical power that the ROS does.) The ROS also often uses the USOS for communication when it is out of sight of Russian ground stations. The six active TDRS satellites (American) provide about 95% coverage, while the single operational Luch satellite (Russian) is sporadic, at best.
Oh, I almost forgot the point of it all. The Axiom modules will have to perform their own attitude control and orbital reboot maneuvers once they separate from the ISS. They also must perform such maneuvers as they deliver themselves to the ISS. (The USOS modules were all delivered to and installed on the ISS by the Space Shuttle, so they never had their own propulsion or GNC.) Hence, Axiom will have to have a fairly hefty propulsion system and related GNC.
There would have to be some cooperation between NASA and Axiom to make it work — control would have to pass from USOS to Axiom and back instead of from USOS to ROS and back — but considering that Axiom was founded by the longtime former NASA ISS program manager, I suspect he knows exactly what needs to be done to make that work and is already doing it. No inside information, just a hunch.
If my hunch is correct, then once Axiom is connected to the ISS, the ROS could be deactivated and the hatch between Node 1 and the FGB permanently closed. NASA would then likely flip the station 180 degrees so that the Axiom modules are now aft, but I don’t think much of anything else would need to be done.
At that point the ROS would be dead weight, but if it were properly safed, it wouldn’t matter. There’s a lot of capability in the USOS. It will be a shame to lose it. And if NASA and Axiom play their cards right, they might not have to.
mkent – Thanks. I have much improved understanding now.
Reboot maneuver? For some reason this iPad doesn’t like the word “reboost”, even after I manually correct it. Let’s see if it leaves the word alone if I put it in quotes.