Elon Musk’s SpaceX to launch world’s first private space station
Elon Musk’s company SpaceX has signed a deal with Voyager Space and Airbus to launch the world’s first private space station called Starlab using a single Starship rocket.
No planned launch date has been announced yet, but last year Voyager Space set a 2028 launch year.
This lines up with the recent claims from Starlab that the station will be in orbit before 2030.
2030 is also the year that NASA plans to decommission the International Space Station.
Startup Voyager Space and Airbus finalised the joint Starlab project on January 9, after announcing its plans last August.
The venture would be a transatlantic endeavor, as Airbus is headquartered in Germany and Voyager Space is a subsidiary of Nanoracks, an American company. SpaceX is also an American company.
In a press release, Voyager Space CEO Dylan Taylor said “SpaceX’s history of success and reliability led our team to select Starship to orbit Starlab.”
He continued by saying “SpaceX is the unmatched leader for high-cadence launches and we are proud Starlab will be launched to orbit in a single flight by Starship.”
In a statement, Starlab will provide a “global customer base of space agencies, researchers, and companies” with a “continued human presence in [low-Earth orbit].”
SpaceX has yet to have a successful launch of its Starship rocket, with each test so far failing.
The hope is that it will be able to carry up to 100 people, and 250 metric tonnes of cargo.
Another test is scheduled for 2024, possibly as early as sometime in February.
“Starlab’s single-launch solution continues to demonstrate not only what is possible, but how the future of commercial space is happening now,” said SpaceX commercial business senior VP Tom Ochinero in a statement.
“The SpaceX team is excited for Starship to launch Starlab to support humanity’s continued presence in low-Earth orbit on our way to making life multiplanetary.”
