Huntsville-based Orbital Assembly says that it will offer space program and mission support services for payloads on the company’s micro and artificial gravity space stations.
“The International Space Station has a multi-year backlog of companies and institutions seeking to conduct paid research projects in space and the demand is increasing,” says Rhonda Stevenson, CEO of Orbital Assembly. “We’re now providing space program and mission support services for the utilization of a new class of private space platforms that are coming online to supplement the ISS and capture the demand.”
OA is already at work on Pioneer-class stations, including a space hotel that could host people as early as 2025. Once they’re up and running, those stations can host payloads, and, according to the company, “as additional modules are added to Pioneer stations customers can continue to affordably expand their footprint significantly.”
OA plans to lease space on Pioneer-class stations to commercial, private, academic, research and industrial customers.
“Leveraging OA’s expertise to conduct program and mission design studies will enable customers to plan more efficiently and envision the first and subsequent steps by planning for a series of missions at the outset,” Stevenson says. “Pioneer offers more payload interchangeability and expansion with the volume of space we have available on station.”
