Axiom hires European company to help build private ISS module
Capitalism in space: Axiom has hired the European company Thales Alenia, to build the habitation module of its commercial space station that will initially attach to ISS.
Axiom’s station modules will form a new section of ISS that will be able to operate independently, so that when ISS is decommissioned it can detach and remain operational in space.
That Axiom did not choose either Boeing (which I think built most of NASA’s ISS modules) or Northrop Grumman (which has been pushing an upgraded version of its Cygnus capsule as future station modules) is intriguing. I suspect with Boeing cost was the major reason, as Boeing’s modules are generally far too expensive. There also might be questions about that company’s quality control.
Why Northrop Grumman lost out however is unclear. Its Cygnus design is relatively inexpensive, and has clearly demonstrated that it works very reliably. obvious. Thales Alenia makes that Cygnus module for Northrop Grumman, so why buy it from the U.S. company when you can get it from the builder. (Thanks to reader Doug Booker for pointing out this obvious fact, one I had forgotten.)
Either way, this contract award gets us one step closer to truly private operations in space. Eventually competing private stations such as Axiom’s will replace government stations like ISS. That will in turn certainly lower costs and and increase innovation, which in turn will accelerate the development of the engineering required to build practical interplanetary spaceships.
This of course assumes we remain a free nation. Right now I have strong doubts.
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Capitalism in space: Axiom has hired the European company Thales Alenia, to build the habitation module of its commercial space station that will initially attach to ISS.
Axiom’s station modules will form a new section of ISS that will be able to operate independently, so that when ISS is decommissioned it can detach and remain operational in space.
That Axiom did not choose either Boeing (which I think built most of NASA’s ISS modules) or Northrop Grumman (which has been pushing an upgraded version of its Cygnus capsule as future station modules) is intriguing. I suspect with Boeing cost was the major reason, as Boeing’s modules are generally far too expensive. There also might be questions about that company’s quality control.
Why Northrop Grumman lost out however is unclear. Its Cygnus design is relatively inexpensive, and has clearly demonstrated that it works very reliably. obvious. Thales Alenia makes that Cygnus module for Northrop Grumman, so why buy it from the U.S. company when you can get it from the builder. (Thanks to reader Doug Booker for pointing out this obvious fact, one I had forgotten.)
Either way, this contract award gets us one step closer to truly private operations in space. Eventually competing private stations such as Axiom’s will replace government stations like ISS. That will in turn certainly lower costs and and increase innovation, which in turn will accelerate the development of the engineering required to build practical interplanetary spaceships.
This of course assumes we remain a free nation. Right now I have strong doubts.
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.
Uh, the Cygnus portion that transports cargo is made by Thales-Alenia. So why buy it from NG instead of the source?
Doug Booker: Duh, you are right. I had forgotten that Orbital Sciences had farmed out its work to other subcontractors, many in Europe.
The MPLM’s and I THINK most of the strcuture of the ISS modules on the US side were made by Thales-Alenia as well.
Ok, looked it up. Node 1 – Unity – Boeing
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unity_(ISS_module)
Node 2 – Harmony – Thales alenia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmony_(ISS_module)
Node 3 – Tranquility – Thales Alenia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tranquility_(ISS_module)
US Lab – Destiny – Boeing
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destiny_(ISS_module)
So mixed bag.
MPLM is also Thales Alenia (berthed at node 3 forward i think)
Cupula – Thales Alenia.
But functionally a distinction without a difference really.
The inflatable habitat company I forget which. I liked that idea because I thought it could provide the cheapest real estate in low earth orbit the quickest.
Robert you wrote awhile ago the starship prototypes better stop blowing up or it’ll look bad. As a product people are going to have alot of bad memories of it blowing up as a product and theres a subliminal mindset that may lead them to think starships are nothing balloons ready to burst they’re that near the brink of perishing. A new metal that only leaks would be great though not sure if can ever be guaranteed by design. They’ve got plenty of lift capacity would adding more mass in the design ensure greater stability
Matthew Straney: You are thinking of Bigelow, which has successfully launched two inflatable test modules as well as a working test module, dubbed BEAM, to ISS.
I’m not sure what the status of Bigelow is right now. It seems others, such as Axiom, have overtaken them.
Bigelow laid off the entirety of their payroll not long ago. But they still have projects that were in progress that they haven’t sent any kind of notice out that “no, we’re not going to deliver this” on. So while the company is not officially dead, it seems fair to say that the body is lying on the floor not breathing and there aren’t any doctors doing anything about it.
Who holds the patents on inflatables? Were they sold, or licensed exclusively? When do they expire?
Of course, the big advantage of inflatables is to provide more living space for less launcher mass/volume. Will Starship make this issue moot?
There is no patent on inflatable space modules. It is in the public domain. The concept was first developed by NASA, and as standard policy all such concepts are released for all to use.
Bigelow has a patent on how they fold the sides in to compress and fit the module into a smaller space.