Orbital Reef Space Station

Has anyone heard of the Orbital Reef space station? This station is a partnership between Blue Origin & Sierra Nevada Corp. Apparently, NASA has selected a few companies to design/ build Space stations to maintain an uninterrupted US presence in LEO. It doesn't stop here; two other groups have been awarded contracts by NASA to build habitats:

Nanoracks and Lockheed Martin received $160 million to design a station concept called Starlab while Northrop Grumman won $125.6 million for a space station derived from its Habitation and Logistics Outpost module built for the Lunar Gateway.

Orbital Reef is a planned low Earth orbit (LEO) space station designed by Blue Origin and Sierra Nevada Corporation's Sierra Space for commercial space activities and space tourism uses. Blue Origin has referred to it as a "mixed-use business park". The companies released preliminary plans on 25 October 2021. The station is being designed to support 10 persons in 830 m3 of volume. The station is expected to be operational by 2027.

On 2 December 2021, NASA announced it had selected Blue Origin as one of three companies to develop designs of space stations and other commercial destinations in space. Blue Origin was awarded $130 million. These Space Act Agreements are the first phase of two with which NASA aims to maintain an uninterrupted U.S. presence in low-Earth orbit by transitioning from the International Space Station to other platforms.

The target date for the Orbital Reef completion is 2027 so it looks like it might start to get crowded up there; especially with the Gateway on the way as well. Looks like NASA is getting active again and making some bold moves. I say it's about time...........What says ATS?


en.wikipedia.org...

a reply to: lostbook

It would appear that now that NASA is starting to face real competition, from both foreign (China, India, etc al) and domestic quarters, they are pushing their game into overdrive.

It's about bloody time!


Back in the day, when a group of civilian pioneers, of which I was a member, got together to develop a low-cost non-governmental/non-military space program, NASA wasn't interested. In fact, they referred all of us to the Federal Aviation Administration, which, at the time, had absolutely nothing to do with space/orbital operations.

If you want to find out how SpaceX, Sierra Nevada, Electron, and Blue Origin got their "road map to the stars", look up the history of the "Cheap Access To Space (C.A.T.S.) Prize".

a reply to: lostbook

Sounds cool to me. The more we do to get space exploration going, the better.

a reply to: lostbook

Have you heard of “voxels”??

They were envisioned to be like computer pixels (a graphic unit) but be utilized as a physical volume; hence, “voxel”. So MIT Engineering set about investigating how these things could work. They created self similar plastic beams that connect together. But instead of all being the same rigidity they vary. Using computer design and robotics, they built structures that can flex in one direction or the other, be more rigid when connected together, or more flexible. Because the robot picks a same sized piece, you just feed it different combinations to make the space that you are trying to fill.

This has all been researched for years. A couple years ago, NASA and MIT announced a flexible wing that bends under various stresses like a bird’s wing would!

They mentioned that they could release dozens of robots and program them to make large structures of ncluding metal/combo materials and that it would be ideal for making a space platform!!

With all the materials cataloged already they would only have to have an end in mind before setting them loose on a construction project!

You ship lightweight raw materials, create these various pieces, and fill up a robot with the right pattern, and you have a swarm creating a platform in space (you could even solar power them!). No need for oxygen, skilled labor, specialty tools, or hazard pay!!

We (humanity) is ready to roll!!

Glad there are multiple partners in our heavenly endeavors!!

a reply to: Mantiss2021

Yeah, China is exploring the dark side of the Moon. I saw an article that I meant to post which said that China's found some type of element or material which they say can be used for some type of fuel. They call it Changae or something like that. Will try to find that article and make a post about it.

a reply to: TEOTWAWKIAIFF

This sounds similar to what I read about with Nasa and 4-D printing; whereas, one would program electronics into a material and let it form into its desired shape or form over time.

If they aint got a reef creature, as in coral reef, vault sense of what the things about... then I'm offended by this title. The title is just pure manipulation if there is no reef.

Orbital Reef is a strange name for it. Sounds like they plan of getting a lot of water up there somehow? Otherwise comes across as an early and more simple form of life.

originally posted by: godsovein
If they aint got a reef creature, as in coral reef, vault sense of what the things about... then I'm offended by this title. The title is just pure manipulation if there is no reef.

"Reef", as in a complex , life-supporting structure, built up over time using smaller, self-similar modules.

As an ocean reef, which you seem to be referring to, is life-supporting structure (reefs provide homes for a variety of sealife), built up over time (by coral), out of smaller, self-similar structures (the calcified bodies of the coral).

a reply to: lostbook

Over the years, I've learned that if NASA says something like 2027 they really mean 2057. It's a great idea but I wonder how popular it will be once the first deaths from accidents happen. And where does Bigelow aerospace fit in this - they've spent years developing their modules.

a reply to: billxam

While I agree with your assessment of NASA, I think the fact that there are private companies involved is an important factor. Private industry doesn't have the broad timelines that NASA has being that they aren't government agencies. So, there is a more urgent need for them to make things happen so that they don't lose money. I think the effort by NASA to include private companies for its LEO efforts is a wise move and will more closely adhere to the timeline they have projected. Also important is the point made by Mantiss2021 that NASA now has competition from China and India.

originally posted by: lostbook
a reply to: Mantiss2021

Yeah, China is exploring the dark side of the Moon. I saw an article that I meant to post which said that China's found some type of element or material which they say can be used for some type of fuel. They call it Changae or something like that. Will try to find that article and make a post about it.

I was just reading about this yesterday. The mineral is called Changesite-(Y).

It seems China's Chang'E-5 robotic Moon mission has discovered more than water on the lunar surface. Scientists have confirmed the discovery of a new mineral, a transparent crystal named Changesite-(Y), as well as a promising potential fusion fuel.

In a joint announcement from the China National Space Administration and the China Atomic Energy authority last week, China celebrated its first new mineral discovered on the Moon – and the sixth ever by mankind. According to Chinese news agency Xinhua, "Changesite-(Y) is a kind of colorless transparent columnar crystal. It was discovered from an analysis of lunar basalt particles by a research team from the Beijing Research Institute of Uranium Geology, a subsidiary of the China National Nuclear Corporation."

The sample analyzed – and confirmed by the International Mineralogical Association as a new mineral – was found among just 1,731 g (61 oz) of lunar samples brought back by the Chang'E 5 mission in 2020 – the first Moon rocks to be brought back to Earth since 1976. It's a single crystal particle with a radius of about 10 microns.

China discovers new mineral - and a possible energy source - on the Moon

a reply to: billxam

One of the participants, Along with Sierra Nevada, is jeff Bezos Blue Origin

If past history with Blue Origin is any clue, this means is will never get built. Just keep going in forever ......

a reply to: firerescue

I hope you're wrong.