INNOVATION
We want space travel to serve commerce and enable new science and do all the things we can’t do on Earth because gravity limits us.
Commercializing Space For kids large and small, space has been a tantalizing dream for decades. It seems so close, and it actually is. The ISS is approximately 250 miles from the Earth’s surface—about the same distance as Washington, D.C. from New York City. But those are long miles. The technical details associated with launching a multi-ton rocket into space are daunting. The vehicle must rapidly accelerate to approx- imately 17,800 miles per hour just to escape gravity. And then, once in orbit, it must sustain life auto- matically, with minimal outside support. These challenges have made space flight difficult and expensive, with only a precious few humans even having the opportunity. Axiom Space wants to change that. “The idea is to provide the means of exploration, to live and work in space,” says Motter. “We want to provide opportunities, not just for government agencies but for everyone, everywhere. We want space travel to serve commerce and enable new science and do all the things we can’t do on Earth because gravity limits us.” Axiom Space is innovating, but they’re not reinventing the wheel. NASA’s Skylab was launched in 1973, and the basic principles remain the same. The issue now is refinement. Taking existing technologies and mak-
ing them more reliable, efficient, lighter, and cost-effective. “We want to bring the costs down,” says Motter, “so space flight becomes routine, like air travel.” The Next Level Motter’s primary focus is mak- ing Axiom Station as useful, cost-effective, and safe as pos - sible. The platform is being designed as a closed loop, in which most consumables will be regenerated—air, water, fuel, and eventually food. Much of this technology already exists in some form, but Axiom Space engineers want to notch it up to the next level. These are not minor refine- ments. The more sustainable Axiom Station can become, the fewer resupply missions will be needed, which means less fight - ing with gravity and less risk. Axiom Station’s first piece, Habitat One (Hab One), will be attached to the ISS to take advan- tage of the station’s existing life
support and other infrastruc- ture, easing the transition as the older station is decommissioned. “Researchers and scientists who have experiments in the ISS will have the ability to move those over to Axiom Station,” says Mot- ter. “When the ISS is retired, and we depart, we’ll be able to save the science, support the research, and continue the mission.” Still, Hab One is not a one-off project but rather a template. Axiom Space looks forward to Hab Two, Three, Four, etc. Instead of building expensive, bespoke modules, the company will continuously refine the ini - tial blueprint. “We are going to add habitat modules, payload modules, power-producing modules,” says Motter. “We’ll just keep adding and adding to the station as those needs arise to support more crew, larger payloads, and more research. We want to con- tinuously build—not just Axiom Station but, in a sense, a city in space.”
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