Axiom’s assembly sequence for its planned station, initially attached to ISS but subsequently detached

The space station startup Axiom has now obtained a $100 million investment by the Hungarian communications provider 4iG.

The company said Dec. 19 it has committed to invest $30 million in Axiom by the end of 2025, followed by an additional $70 million by March 31, 2026.

In October, 4iG announced a non-binding commitment letter to evaluate a potential $100 million investment in Axiom Space. The agreement outlined a separate $100 million framework for cooperation on the development of orbital data center systems over the next five years. 4iG said in a news release that the Axiom investment would provide Hungary with an opportunity to secure a long-term role in orbital data centre programs and space-based data processing and storage, but did not provide details.

In 2024 there were rumors the company had a serious cash shortage, though since then construction of its first two modules has proceeded as planned, with a launch of the first module still set for sometime in 2026. This new infusion of cash should shore up Axiom’s station construction considerably.

My rankings of the commercial space stations now under development:

• Haven-1, being built by Vast, with no NASA funds. The company is moving fast, with Haven-1 to launch in 2026 for a three-year period during which it will be occupied by four 2-week-long manned missions. The company is already testing an unmanned small demo module in orbit. By flying actual hardware and manned missions it hopes this will put it in the lead to win NASA’s phase 2 contract to build its much larger multi-module Haven-2 station. It has also made preliminary deals with Colombia, Uzbekistan, Japan, and the Maldives possible astronaut flights to Haven-1.
• Axiom, being built by Axiom, has launched four tourist flights to ISS, with the fourth carrying government passengers from India, Hungary, and Poland. The rumors of cash flow issues seem to have been alleviated with an infusion of $100 million from Hungary’s telecommunications company 4iG. The development of its first two modules has also been proceeding more or less as planned, with the first’s hull completed and presently undergoing testing. It has also signed Redwire to build that module’s solar panels.
• Starlab, being built by a consortium led by Voyager Space, Airbus, and Northrop Grumman, with extensive partnership agreements with the European Space Agency and others. Though no construction has yet begun on its NASA-approved design, it has raised $383 million in a public stock offering in addition to the $217.5 million provided by NASA. It has also begun signing up a number of companies to build the station’s hardware.
• Orbital Reef, being built by a consortium led by Blue Origin and Sierra Space. This station looks increasingly dead in the water. Blue Origin has built almost nothing, as seems normal for this company. And while Sierra Space has successfully tested its inflatable modules, including a full scale version, its reputation is soured by its failure in getting its Dream Chaser cargo mini-shuttle launched.

There is also a fifth American company, Max Space, that had previously marketed itself as a maker of inflatable modules for sale to these other stations. It recently announced its design of a larger module, Thunderbird, that it hopes to launch independently in 2029 on its own demonstration mission.