On March 20, 2023, NASA announced the achievement of four critical milestones by Blue Origin in developing the life support system of Orbital Reef. The tests are part of the NASA Space Act Agreement awarded to Bezos’s company in 2021. They aim to boost Low Earth Orbit commercialization and find replacements for the International Space Station (ISS).
A @NASA-funded commercial space station, @blueorigin's Orbital Reef, recently completed testing milestones for its critical life support system as part of the agency’s efforts for new destinations in low Earth orbit. The four milestones are part of a NASA Space Act Agreement… pic.twitter.com/bCypsQE78P
— NASA Space Operations (@NASASpaceOps) March 20, 2024
The milestones focused on the regenerative air and water recycling systems. Their materials and designs proved to be able to clean, reclaim, and store air and water, crucial for sustainable human spaceflight.
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Sustaining human life in space
Like any space station, Orbital Reef will offer a closed habitat and support the astronauts that live and work in its facilities. To do so, it must provide breathing air and potable water. It is then crucial to reuse and clean them of impurities and pollutants. It is thus possible to limit the launch of supplies from Earth.
The ISS is a perfect example of regenerative technology. The Water Recovery System can recycle 98% of water from an astronaut’s urine and sweat. At the same time, its Air Revitalization System can extract oxygen from the carbon dioxide produced by the astronaut’s breath.
Similar devices have been developed for Orbital Reef and got NASA approval through four tests. These are a trace contaminant control test, water contaminant oxidation test, urine water recovery test, and water tank test.
“These milestones are critical to ensuring that a commercial destination can support human life so NASA astronauts can continue to have access to low Earth orbit to conduct important scientific research in the unique microgravity environment.”
— Angela Hart, manager of NASA’s Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development Program
Recently, Orbital Reef reached another milestone from NASA regarding the structural integrity of its inflatable module LIFE developed by Sierra Space, a Blue Origin partner in the space station construction.
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Alternatives to the ISS
The Blue Origin space station is not the only one to be awarded by NASA’s Low Earth Orbit Development Program to provide future alternatives to the ISS. Voyager Space’s Starlab and Axiom Space’s Axiom Station are also in the development phase and plan to launch the first module in LEO in a few years.
Other private initiatives are attempting to fill the gap that the retirement of the ISS by 2030 will open. One of them, VAST’s Haven-1, could beat the competition and be the first to reach space.
Thanks to Haven-1, Vast could be the first private company to conduct an artificial gravity experiment, the second ever in human spaceflight history, after that of Gemini 11 in 1966.
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