r/spaceflight • u/spacedotc0m • 18d ago

Axiom's private space station is coming sooner than we thought

https://www.space.com/space-exploration/private-spaceflight/axioms-private-space-station-is-coming-sooner-than-we-thought
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u/mfb- 17d ago

So the new plan is just to dock the Payload, Power and Thermal module, then undock it to become an independent space station. No habitat module, not sure about life support, so visits might be limited by the life support system of the visiting capsule.

It also means no ISS support for any assembly steps. Having the first module on the ISS is still nice for testing, but it means the station has to go to the same inclination.

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u/SpaceIsKindOfCool 17d ago

The intention is to undock the power module and launch the first hab to it very quickly. So no habitat on ISS, but that's not a huge deal since you can squeeze 12 crew on ISS as is.

The first two modules will dock to each other autonomously then after that be moved using the robotic arm since a new robotic arm design is likely to have some teething issues, but autonomous docking is pretty well understood. The first hab will launch with 2 docking adapters and the power module will have 1, so even with docking the modules there's still a free docking port for visiting vehicles.