Inflatable space station modules is an idea with a lot going for it. 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
The ISS's days are numbered, are inflatable space stations finally about to have their moment? Florida-based Max Space is the latest to try to develop one.
byu/lughnasadh inFuturology
3 Comments
Until they’ve been sufficiently tested, it’s going to be hard to sell people on inflatable habitats, which makes for a rough chicken-egg problem. Add to this the growing amount and awareness of space debris, and people have a right to be nervous.
The other big development that we can be testing with current tech is centrifugal gravity – rather than a giant wheel that’s beyond our current orbital manufacturing capabilities, we can and *should* try two weights swinging around a central tether; however, the fear of something snapping and either being flung at the earth or off into space puts most folks off the notion.
Ultimately it comes down to courage and funding.
My first thought was “how the hell do you keep positive pressure??”
Then I was like “…duh”
I am not terribly confident there will still be a space station program in the future, at least one with the US involved. There isn’t a real call for it and I am not sure what value can be brought to the table by it.