Inflatable space station modules are an idea with a lot going for them. Built from multi-layered polymer fabrics far stronger than Kevlar, they have a proven track record of working. The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM), launched and attached to the ISS in 2016, is still attached and perfectly functional.
They enjoy other huge advantages. As they can be launched unexpanded, they can easily be accommodated as cargo on today’s rockets. They’re orders of magnitude cheaper to manufacture than the regular ISS modules, too.
So why hasn’t this tech taken off? Why don’t we have a huge space station made up of multiple such modules?
Maybe this approach to space station building will soon have its moment. The ISS’s days are numbered, and when it’s gone, that will only leave the Chinese space station in orbit. NASA has long said it wants its next space station to be commercial. Does this mean Max Space is perfectly poised to enter the breach?
Expandable space stations are back… well at least Max Space thinks they are
first off, every time you see any of them visionaries claiming they gonna build this and that, think musk bullshits “in two years yadda yadda yadaa” so take that with a bag of salt.
second, what no “nostromo” the size of a city where one can walk about, have leisurely meals and discuss the bonus situation anytime soon?!
WOW, thanks, for posting about this, never heard about this before.
Seems undoable to me, but yet, to finish reading the post & have not read the article linked.
“Fabrics stronger than Kevlar” seems to be doing the heavy lifting here.
Well, the module launched in 2016 is still going strong …
The idea is pretty old and there have been several prototypes launched and tried.
