This week, NASA finalized its sustainability strategy a human presence in space. One document emphasized the importance of maintaining the capability for extended stays in orbit after the International Space Station is retired.
“NASA’s Low Earth Orbit Microgravity Strategy will guide the agency toward the next generation of continued human presence in orbit, enable greater economic growth, and sustain international partnerships,” the document said.
The commitment comes amid questions about whether the new space stations will be ready for use. Now that the new Trump administration is trying to make cuts through the Department of Government Efficiency, there are also concerns NASA could face budget cuts.
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“Just as everyone has to make tough decisions when budgets are tight, we have made a number of choices over the past year to scale back programs or cancel them all together to ensure we can focus on our highest priorities. ” said NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy.
Commercial space company Voyager is working on one of the space stations that support the International Space Station when it comes out of orbit in 2030. The company applauded NASA’s strategy to keep people in space.
A view shows a Voyager spacecraft. Voyager is working on one of the space stations that could replace the International Space Station, which is expected to be decommissioned in 2030. (Travel space)
“We need that commitment because our investors are saying, ‘Is the United States committed?’” said Jeffrey Manber Voyager’s president of international and space stations.
President Reagan first launched the effort to keep people in space in permanent residence. He also warned about the need for private partnerships.
“America has always been the greatest when we dared to be great. We can reach for greatness,” Reagan said during his State of the Union address in 1984. “The space transportation market could outpace our capacity to develop it.”
Jeffrey Manber, president of international and space stations at Voyager Space, praised NASA’s commitment to exploring how to sustain the human presence in space. (Associated Press)
The first part of the ISS was launched in 1998. Since then, it has housed more than 28 people from 23 countries. Humans occupied the ISS continuously for 24 years.
The Trump administration released a national space policy in 2020 that called for maintaining a “continuous human presence in orbit” and also emphasized the need to transition to commercial platforms. The Biden administration maintained that policy.
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“Let’s say we didn’t have any commercial stations ready to go. Technically we could keep the space station running, but the idea was to fly it until 2030 and deorbit it in 2031,” he says . NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in June.
In recent months there were questions about whether the policy would be maintained.
A view shows a Voyager Space spacecraft floating in orbit above Earth. (Travel space)
“I just want to talk about the elephant in the room, the continued human presence. What does that mean? Is it a continuous heartbeat or a continuous power output? While we originally hoped that this would just come out of this process, we’re still arguing there conversations about it and understanding it,” Melroy said at the International Astronautical Congress in October.
NASA’s final strategy took into account concerns from commercial and international partners about what it would mean to lose the ISS without a commercial station ready to operate.
“Almost all of our industry partners agreed. Continuous presence is a continuous heartbeat. And that is where we are today,” said Melroy. “I think this continued presence is leadership. Today, the United States is a leader in human spaceflight. The only other space station that will be in orbit when the ISS deorbits, if we don’t come up with a commercial designation in time, it will too. are the Chinese space station and we want to remain the partner of choice for our industry and for our goals for NASA.”
Three companies, including Voyager, are working with NASA to develop commercial space stations. Axiom has signed an agreement with NASA in 2020. The agency awarded contracts to Nanoracks, now part of Voyager Space, and Blue Origin in 2021.
A view shows a distant Voyager Space spacecraft passing in front of the moon. (Travel space)
“We’ve had some challenges, to be completely honest with you. The budget caps that were a deal cut between the White House and Congress for the fiscal year (2024 and 2025) have kept us from making as many investments. What we do is that we invest in the development of the development together with our commercial partners. However, I think we can still make it happen before the end of 2030, to get a commercial space station operational, so that we have a continuous space station. heartbeat of the American astronauts in orbit,” Melroy said.
Voyager says it is not lagging behind in the development process and still plans to launch its spacecraft in 2028.
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“We’re not asking for more money. We’re moving forward. We’re ready to replace the International Space Station,” Manber said. “Everyone knows SpaceXbut there are hundreds of companies that created the space economy. And if we lose our permanent presence, you lose that supply chain.”
Since the first contracts for the space station, additional resources have been made available to the three companies. For some projects, a second round of financing may be crucial. NASA could also award funding for new space station proposals. One prospect is Long Beach, the vast expanse of California. The company recently unveiled concepts for its Haven modules. It plans to launch the Haven-1 as early as next year.
“We definitely think competition is critical. This is a development project. It’s a challenge. It was difficult to build the space station. We’re asking our commercial partners to do this themselves, with some help from us. We think that It is important that we include as many options as possible in the future to see which one really works out when we actually get there,” said Melroy.
