“Space has never been more accessible, and the potential for breakthrough discoveries has never been greater. In a report this year on the emerging space economy, Mike Bechtel, chief futurist and managing director of Deloitte Consulting, described the space industry as undergoing a renaissance. “Gravitics and its backers are betting on (that) rush,” Geekwire concluded. The commercial space age has dawned, and now there’s a “rush to launch commercial outposts to low-orbit Earth,” Geekwire reported last year.
They describe it as a low-orbit ”mixed-use business park” that can support up to 10 people.
Together with Sierra Space, Blue Origin plans to build a privately-owned space station, dubbed Orbital Reef. It’s an example of how a module can be customized to fit a client’s intended use, Shah said.Īll are built to withstand the impacts of space debris and tiny meteorites, “anything moving at a speed of 17,500 miles per hour,” Shah said.įounded by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos in 2000, Blue Origin is based in Kent. “One of these is half the volume of the International Space Station,” said Jiral Shah, vice president of business development.Ī separate mock-up of the interior features padded walls and hand grips and railings. The company’s out-of-this-world design takes a cue from the International Space Station’s modules, which resemble cylinders but on a larger scale. Completed, its aluminum hull will stretch 32 feet in length and provide roughly two boxcars or 14,000 cubic feet of space. The experimental prototype, still under construction, is 25 feet in diameter. In November, the startup received $20 million in venture capital to get off the ground, so to speak. “We’re building a prototype now, and looking to launch in three years.” “Building really big space structures is our thing,” De Rosa said. The blue light of a welding rod flares and sparks fly as a welder works on a prototype. Inside a 42,000-square-foot warehouse at the Cascade Industrial Center, Gravitics is designing its flagship product, Star Max, a space module that can operate alone or be linked to others.ĭesigners and engineers at computer desks are scattered throughout the building.
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