How Inflatable Space Habitats Will Change Space Exploration

In this interview, I'm talking with Shawn Buckley who is the Senior Director of Engineering at Sierra Space. We talk about the development of their LIFE module, discuss how inflatable habitats can change space exploration and what part they play in humanity's space future.
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00:00 Intro
01:32 Burst tests
02:50 What is the LIFE Module
08:00 Working with NASA
09:11 Risks of inflatable habitats
15:33 Inside the module
18:39 Deployment in space
25:14 Project timeframe
27:20 Future applications
39:29 Humanity in space
41:06 Outro
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[@SierraSpace]

Fraser, thank you for covering our LIFE Habitat with Shawn Buckley. We look forward to sharing the results from our upcoming tests later this year.

[@entropiated9020]

May I suggest you name the next iteration "After Life"?

[@TheExplodingGerbil]

This is just so amazing! Can't wait for the results 😊

[@planetsec9]

Just saying it would be super cool to see BEAM replaced with a LIFE on the ISS! Also on Gateway eventually too! NASA astronauts would immediately appreciate that added space and capability I bet, the ISS modules are apparently pretty cramped with cargo according to spacenews. I also really love how self sufficient Sierra Space can be when combining all of these systems together- free floating LIFE stations that a crewed Dream Chaser docks to with regular Cargo Dream Chaser resupplies its just super cool and very exciting to imagine the possibilities and synergies. Inflatables in space are super underrated in terms of enabling capability, really exciting to see both inflatable habitats and heatshields making progress recently!

[@swiftycortex]

I loved your enthusiasm for all of the work Sierra Space is doing. Your enthusiasm is contagious. If you keep up doing what you are doing with the amount of enthusiasm you have, it seems like the perfect recipe for success. Thank you for coming on the show.

[@ChemEDan]

@@entropiated9020 Safety thurd Edit: I would suggest "bugs LIFE," and grow crunchy insect snacks inside.

[@NoahVenesile]

idk why, but Sean Buckley at 6:35 when music starts playing and he just real quick shuts it off to continue doing his thing might be one of the most badass things i've ever seen a person do, i'll just point that out real quick.

[@jamesmnguyen]

22:24 Considering how many launches the ISS took, this is mind-blowing.

[@oldmandoinghighkicksonlyin1368]

Remember tho, the modules had all the components built in -- electrical, life support, science stuff -- Sierra is just the walls.

[@jamesmnguyen]

@@oldmandoinghighkicksonlyin1368 It seems like they intend for each module to be self-sufficient, solar panels, thermal management, life support, etc.

[@oldmandoinghighkicksonlyin1368]

@@jamesmnguyen Ah, yes I'm sure they have nice 3D renderings for that on their website. I'll reserve excitement for when it actually is in orbit.

[@jamesmnguyen]

@@oldmandoinghighkicksonlyin1368 me too I'm just correcting you

[@novacula]

Great segment Fraser! Thoughly enjoying watching this.

[@michaelginever732]

When you inflate the habitat, could you then pump water into a cavity between it and an extra outer layer? Water is needed anyway and I understand that it makes an excellent radiation shield. Good luck to Sierra space. Great to see you guys taking up the inflatable habitat idea after the demise of Bigelow space.

[@frasercain]

I was going to suggest that. 😀

[@cacogenicist]

Inhabitants' fecal matter could be pumped into the cavity. Poop shielding is pretty good.

[@marksparks8852]

@@cacogenicist are there any fans in space that the module could hit? 🙃🚽

[@jessepollard7132]

The problem is that it introduces the possibility of the water freezing and destroying its container. same problem as putting a water container in a freezer.

[@user-op3zf6if9i]

Great idea , i like to see a poop and urine digester as well to extract methane for rocket fuel and phospate for fertilizer@@cacogenicist

[@thefourthquarter7429]

What a great interview! You could hear Shawn's excitement about the technology Sierra is developing. Inflatables sound like a game changing technology with endless applications. I can't wait to see how this plays out.

[@danschultz4870]

This was a great interview thanks Fraser.

[@michaelpettersson4919]

A ground based version of that would be useful on the moon. Just inflate and then shovel regolit on top of it for radiation shielding and you have a moon based hobbit home.

[@smhdpt12]

Very good interviewer. He asks all the question in a clear and succinct way that the average viewer would ask. Excellent job!

[@stuartcarter7053]

I love all these interviews Fraser does and this was no exception. Thanks as always

[@johnbhend8565]

Thank you. Great information.

[@francretief1]

Some questions I wish Fraser asked. How and where do you fit windows in a soft shell? I can imagine that a window will create a serious point of failure. On one of the images on the Sierra web site, I see a window on the axial core which makes sense. Also, where are the controll thrusters situated? Also on the core? How about ingress and exit by astronauts? Also on the core? What is the safety margin with regards to over pressure?

[@miinyoo]

I really like the way Shawn looks at this. Very much like the Oregon Trail with less dysentery or inadequate grass.

[@dannybell926]

This was a great great interview. I have no doubt that Sierra will succeed. They're going to set the bar for future off earth habitats and I can't wait to watch it happen

[@kreynolds1123]

Setting the bar with a pressure at roughly one bar. 😂

[@TraditionalAnglican]

Inflatable space habitats are wonderful things - They’re almost impregnable, durable & they give a lot of internal volume for fairly low weight & volume1

[@mickmiah7605]

Brilliant interview... Inflatable habitats have been a dream of mine for so long. I really really hope I get to see these deployed before my time is up.

[@gretchenmyers1279]

thank you for this! absolutely understandable tech

[@mralekito]

Fascinating talk. Can’t wait to see these in space.

[@TheExplodingGerbil]

Great interview as always, Fraser 👌

[@lukasmakarios4998]

If you make these "bubbles" a diameter of 33 meters, more or less, you can assemble a segmented torus station capable of 1g gravity spinning at 2 rpm using only 42 segments. (Depending on the length of the access corridor between them, the specific math may vary.) This would be feasible to launch using SpaceX's Starship in maybe a few dozen launches? It's worth figuring out, right? @34:00

[@gasdive]

Or, you could launch 12 stretched SS and have 192000 m3

[@michaelpettersson4919]

​@@gasdive You could but the torus would provide artifical gravity.

[@poletooke4691]

This was such an AWESOME interview! So hyped for what Sierra Space does now

[@Seadalgo]

Great interview. I know it's a small point but big thanks to the interviewee for reading the room and fighting against the boardroom pitchman and acronym PowerPoint speak that he's obviously had to adopt recently (I can sympathize friend, I really can). Especially as the interview went on and it got comfortable. Sierra Space has made all the rounds in tech news and with that you are inevitably meeting new audiences. Chefs kiss perfect for a man who obviously wears many hats to do it so well

[@frasercain]

Yeah, I could sense that too, and it was actually pretty tricky to get him comfortable enough to just relax and nerd out.

[@Seadalgo]

@@frasercain It's rare in my experience to find someone that never has to "I have to check with my team and get back to you" with the wide variety of questions you asked but is still up on project milestones and timelines, regulatory roadmaps, company progress, and the engineering ins and outs of the project. Like I said I bet he wears many hats.

[@Globovoyeur]

I agree that it's a good sign he's able to talk so freely. I remember when Orbital Sciences had to delay its IPO by about two weeks because David Thompson mentioned in an interview that he was a science fiction fan. That, in my view, is a bad reason for skepticism about a space launch company, and I hope we're past it.

[@lenwhatever4187]

Not so sure about the windows thing. Yes there may be short bursts of time (1%) when windows will be a great thing to have. I think the rest of the time, plain windows will be boring or depressing. I think enhanced windows, that is monitors that are window sized but where the camera has a really good lens. I think people might feel better to have a rear view with a visible Earth and a forward view where the destination is visible. Both may need to be magnified to give comforting sense of space and movement. The internal space may be much more important.

[@landgsmith]

Great interview! I didn’t know much about Sierra Space, but I am sold!

[@martythemartian99]

Interesting how Orbital Reef is being done by Sierra, who tell us everything as it happens, and Blue Origin, who are so secretive.

[@braggarmybrat]

Glad to see someone has taken Bigalow''s ideas and kept them going! The whole idea of modularity is so important, especially with the concept of taking your house with you as a wagon. But it's a lot bigger. Spinning up to produce gravity had me imagine what it would take to put a propulsion system on a spinning ring to take you to Mars or the Belt. Being able to test out propulsion systems in a rapid fashion, like Musk is doing but doing in in-situ would get us from idea to proof of concept to a working model would be a lot easier if we are already out there. Good job with this interview!

[@waynegnarlie1]

I watched every second of that amazing and inspiring interview. Let's go!

[@MrandMrsSmiths]

I've been following them for some time now and love that you focused on dispelling many of the fallacies that go along with their inflatable habitats.

[@TraditionalAnglican]

What fallacies?1? I haven’t heard these “concerns’.

[@natalierichards5180]

No Windows Space debris Excelente idea if the engineers could incorporarem transparente kevlar in the material spec

[@natalierichards5180]

Would the fab be in space? What is the manufacturing processo?

[@natalierichards5180]

Could you make available the material data??

[@MrandMrsSmiths]

@@natalierichards5180 currently the fab is on the ground. They're then launched in standard fairings, inflated on the way to their destination and then attached. They can be self-sustaining or part of an existing station. They can be used as multi-planetary as well. I'm certain manufacturing on site will become more readily available once built.

[@badrinair]

Thank you very much. Made me imagine about the future while listening about the development

[@rkramer5629]

My only real concern with it is compartmentalization in the event of major damage. I assume that on the ISS, if one of the sections is damaged, that it can be sealed off? Or is that not a thing with life support and power and such running through the modules?

[@massimookissed1023]

The ISS does have closeable bulkheads in it. Many of its modules bud off from the central 'spine' and could be isolated, as the Bigelow module is currently.

[@PhysicsPolice]

Presumably if several of these inflatable habitats were linked together (he mentions this at one point), bulkheads could be installed so that each habitat is a separate compartment. But yeah, a big spherical area is difficult to segment, compared to a tube.

[@andretokayuk8100]

@@PhysicsPolice Nice handle! I promise not to break the laws of physics..)/*

[@TraditionalAnglican]

The airtight “bulkheads” would be between the individual habs - The ISS has 3 airtight compartments on the central spine separated by 2 docking ports, so this would be the same situation…

[@rogerkemppinen9019]

I enjoy your insight of all projects explained . Just full of Wonder

[@savagesarethebest7251]

Wow, he didn't hesitate when you asked him about starship!

[@buddywhatshisname522]

Is Sierra using Bigelow aerospace designs or have they bought up the company? I know they partnered to put the BEAM on orbit as part of the ISS, but Bigelow has been shuttered since COVID so I’m kinda surprised and happy to see this.

[@ashleyobrien4937]

Yeah I was wondering the same thing, because Bigelow certainly had this thing past the drawing board. One thought that I had about this concept was to have a setup that inflates, but then another layer on the outer skin also inflates to give a double hull, which is then filled with a type of foam that fills that hull space and solidifies. Material technology with foams and polymers have come along way, the hull could have a thickness of a meter or so, reinforced with carbon fiber and other polymers that could easily stop micrometeorites, self sealing technology could also be included by designing the polymers to cure on exposure to space, low pressure, oxygen etc.

[@egood4531]

Back during the Shuttle program, I enjoyed my time a MSFC. They had everything to test the equipment for space.

[@AndrewEddie]

Great interview. Can't wait to see this tech in space.

[@HustlinHugh]

Awesome episode! It keeps my hopes up for the future of humanity, however bleak it seems today with our fighting amongst ourselves...

[@sleepingbackbone7581]

I enjoy this episodes...so much to learn, so much to discover.

[@richardcollings4736]

another great discussion Fraser looking forard to more

[@spayne8271]

Excellent interview.,.

[@davidshoemaker4437]

Great video, as I watched I started to imagine the possibilities and a question would pop up in my mind and you all would answer it within a minute or two.

[@JarcoArt]

That was a brilliant interview, Shawn's excitement is really contagious! 🤩 Well done both of you. 🚀🛰

[@clarencehopkins7832]

Excellent stuff bro

[@phoule76]

so much room for activities!

[@dhl1544]

Great Interview.

[@laurogarza4953]

What happened to Bigelow Aerospace? They launched their first vehicles in the early 2000s and then they didn't do much until the 2010s putting BEAM on the ISS. I've heard nothing from them since. Is Sierra using Bigelow's designs or something different? BTW, NASA uses inflatable habitat simulators to test crew dynamics for long duration missions.

[@deborahduthie4519]

I just knew there’d be inflatable habitats and soft sided craft too. Perfect. A bit late but catching up. If it’s going up...you can make it big enough for a city...build vehicles and living, repairing, landing, manufacture of metal sheets a kilometre across using laser as the platform surface making foil, gasses to live with. Move using gasses you don’t need. Space is big and can deal with individuals or groups. Speed up...let’s get going

[@alexlabs4858]

Can’t wait to see what LIFE module they build to fit a ship like starship

[@ToddLarsen]

I thought Bigalo Aerospace was doing this many years ago. Great idea either way, and I love it. Thanks for sharing, and as always, keep building 👍

[@frasercain]

They did. There's a Bigalow module on the ISS right now. But they went out of business.

[@mikeconnery4652]

Great interview

[@NovaDeb]

Super interesting!

[@relikvija]

Great channel amigo

[@thecarweewoodworker8629]

This was extremely enjoyable podcast and Shawn was a please to listen to.

[@allenwood9967]

This concept could be used for a future project where a very large inflatable habitat is made with a joining section for bringing materials in, instead of just being a large habit chamber it could be used for making a space station within until it's completed and the habitat is removed, another idea is to make it a toroidal shape.

[@cliddily]

Incredible! I can see these balloons scaled up and rotating..

[@lifeuniverse]

Incredible interview Fraser, this is a nice way to build orbital infrastructure until build in orbit gets going.

[@Adrian-qk2fn]

I know that NASA had originally been developing Inflatable Habitats and this research was then taken over by Bigelow Aerospace. But they then went into liquidation in 2020. So my question is: Have Sierra Space taken over Bigelow Aerospaces's Research and developed it further or have they been pursuing this technology independently all this time?

[@stevelenores5637]

Prefabricated homes and workplace for space. Makes sense. Next step after this would be using these for mining, storage, and transport.

[@normanhairston1411]

It would seem that space exploration could be the driver for multiple innovations in fabrics. 1) The European Mars rover was originally postponed because it did not have a parachute strong enough to land on Mars. 2) Maybe this is the same issue, but NASA recently tested a balute for slowing down spacecraft using air braking. 3) The need for larger habitats, both in space and on other worlds. 4) The cable for a space elevator.

[@feltonhamilton21]

To have a walk-in safe room consist of a magnetic field and a compatible stretchable thin suit design and built with quarter-size iron dust pockets to help with muscle and blood circulation would make a good work out recovery room...

[@Lilmiket1000]

With all the BS going on in the world today. Hearing this and watching his enthusiasm is a great escape from it all. I hope I get to live to see a little of it.

[@NoahVenesile]

That Sierra Space guy you interviewed seems like a really cool guy

[@yourdiytechlife]

Fascinating, I don't know if it was these guys but I was thinking there was a company that tested an inflatable habitat in space already. Am I miss remembering that?

[@frasercain]

Bigelow Aerospace launched the BEAM module to the International Space Station a few years ago. Different company.

[@shlomster6256]

Great interview. Funny!!!

[@Crunch_dGH]

Beautiful! What’s the hold up?😂 What about repair/retrofit/upgrade -ability? (I think I heard Bigalow mentioned on my second pass.) Use cases, timelines: Lunar, Mars, asteroid mining, deep space mapping expedition scenarios/timelines?

[@Brendenable]

Fraser, what was one of man’s first iterations in flight. The zeppelin. Now we will have a Space Zeppelin! Space truckin to the future. Thank you for your videos.

[@JonathanACarr]

Very exciting to think of inflatable capsules providing turn-key habitats on the moon or at beginner space stations on Mars, floating on the cloud tops of Venus or as a mining base on Psyche or Ceres. Or as inflatable storage expansions to mining barges in our future space economy.

[@NicholasNerios]

Sierra space burst test the larger habitat at 77 psi. Which exceeds NASA space habitat requirements. Earth is 14.8 psi and the maximum operating pressure in space is 15.2 psi. NASA required inflatable habitats to with stand 60psi, sierra space set a new record with the 77 psi burst test, 17 psi over the safety requirement.

[@jari2018]

The differnce between old researchers and scientist in space are they now can talk for themselves and not being acting like your " father" son relationship

[@t.b.a.r.r.o.]

No doubt these will be part of the future. I think once we establish a level of manufacturing in space these will become a great way of having temporary large spaces to prep/build things in. Also, they will be great for arenas when space sports come on line.

[@snufkinmatt162]

I am going to ingress my lounge, translate across the room and then create a LS (lighting scenario) by leveraging the operating switch. I can then RTB (read this book) going forward and GUV (gain useful information) which I can integrate with the DF (data family) I obtained from a prior timeframe.

[@ufoburnout]

Would be an excellent way to create a rescue vessel for large numbers of crew at any one time. Could be launched quickly if needed.

[@RunNooubs]

@SierraSpace @fraser - What are your thoughts on using that 300 cubic meters of pressurized volume to store cryogenics and creating an orbital fuel depot?

[@DanielSMatthews]

I think that eventually 3D ice printers will have a big impact as they give you structure and shielding, from both radiation and kinetic threats. A combination of the two technologies will be interesting.

[@andretokayuk8100]

I've got a 3d printing nozzle for just such an occasion and it's built in..) Thanks, creator! Never thought it would come in THAT handy XD

[@oldmandoinghighkicksonlyin1368]

Just send up some chainsaws and human ice sculptors.

[@Chris.Davies]

Ice provides almost no protection against impacts, sorry. You might as well wrap yourself in glass. And if you are outside the Earth's magnetic field, then you need to be behind at least 2-metres of ice to be (relatively!) safe. And that much water weighs a LOT. And mass is the enemy when Delta-V is concerned.

[@killgazmotron]

@@Chris.Davies the insinuation is ice gathered from deep space locations when people talk about space ice in construction. And the fracture issues can be resolved through the system of freezing and sections of impurities. If you freeze it all at once running fractures are a risk, if you freeze in layered segmentation together with different dissolved elements you can make ice fracture within a designed space. like wired mesh safety glass. Or you can fill lightweight honeycomb grids in layers.

[@progkarma944]

Amazing interview! So inspiring! Thank you!

[@Crunch_dGH]

Beautiful! What’s the hold up!😂

[@sarcasmo57]

Neato.

[@jaybanchero]

Thanks Fraser, thanks Shawn. Great program. Inspiring. Shawn, a humble suggestion; the common mispronunciation, "Star Track" is slightly annoying - to a few at least 😮. Again, very common. You might think of the US frontier example, i.e., the massive "treck" out west. It totally doesn't matter. It's just something that came to mind as I watched. Thanks again for a very informative program.!

[@cacogenicist]

I kept waiting for the obvious question to be asked -- how large an expanded volume could you get if you squeezed an unexpanded module into a 9 meter-wide Starship cargo compartment? ... _and_ they got to it. Rad. Put 100 of those 2k cubic meter habs, in a circle, and rotate the ring. Stick a docking hub in the middle, and some spokes. :-)

[@mitseraffej5812]

For a bit of fun the kids and I poured an inch of liquid nitrogen into half a dozen plastic soft drink bottles, put the lids on and left them in the sun. The shockwave from when they popped shook the house windows.

[@woodrobuda]

so as much as I applaud Sierra and really am excited for their success, can their technology for cheap housing on the earth? (I'm not trying to be a downer but am wondering....)

[@larrybuzbee7344]

Here is a possible expansion (if you will) of the inflatable habitat idea; rather than constructing the entire enclosure on the ground, blow very large thin uv catalyzed plastic bubbles on orbit and coat the inside with layers of water ice applied to the inner surface as a fine spray for shielding and structure. Maximum deployed volume for minimum launch volume; a small tank of plastic, a large one of water and one of inflation gas. Clearly there is more to making it habitable but that's the kurtzgesagt.

[@terrysullivan1992]

and then how would they be kept warm for humans ?

[@larrybuzbee7344]

@@terrysullivan1992 spray expanding foam in the inside of the ice layer.

[@DavidSmith-kd8mw]

I'd think the drag to volume ratio would decrease as you increase diameter. Wouldn't volume increase by a cube while the cross section (drag) would increase by a square?

[@brettclausen5678]

Hi, Just a thought. Shawn, why are you talking about a normal sea-level operating pressure of 14.7 PSI? Would it not be better and safer to use a lower pressure? 10 PSI comes to mind, which emulates an altitude of about 10,000 feet and is probably do-able for most people with some acclimatization. This would be a drop in air pressure of almost a third, giving a much better safety margin on the balloon materials as well as a much reduced requirement for atmospheric gas.

[@brick6347]

Could you build a spoke, then attach the modules and spin it?

[@R0bobb1e]

According to Einstein-Rosin, you can create or observe a wormhole between two distant places by bending space time. If you were able to travel trough said wormhole, would you wind up getting there at the time as observed from your starting point (lets say a planetary body 120 million light years away), allowing you to explore the planetary body or star system you were aiming for or would you get there the 120 million years later, meaning that everything would be in different places and thus rendering the travel through the wormhole useless?

[@Chris.Davies]

We've been waiting since the ISS's TransHab for this to be a thing. The development has been stupidly slow, and with two test articles already in orbit, and the BEAM attached to the ISS, we can say with some authority that this technology works. And yet it's 15 years later, and there are STILL no space stations based on it. Much as I loathe Elon Musk, it seems the SpaceX Starship just *might* work as a Big Dumb Booster to LEO - and so the question becomes: how large can you make an inflatable module within a 9-metre-diameter fairing? The proposed B330 (with 330 cubic metres of internal volume) by Bigelow only needed a 6.7-metre fairing! With Starship, I wouldn't be surprised if a single module weighing 150 tons and having a volume of 600+ cubic metres could be lofted to create an entire space station with just one launch. The whole ISS only has 900 cubic metres in total.

[@MajorBorris]

Intriguing idea. Anything that makes space exploration cheaper...

[@lst1nwndrlnd]

This guy has such an wonderful bullsihit. 🤘👈🤙

[@kodibox-ic2tp]

We can only hope that Sierra Space is one of these companies that are in talks to acquire ULA.

[@waldoanddenisestakes639]

Nice job Sierra and Mr. Buckley. Had the feeling you were being bullied a bit. Hanging tough.

[@michaelgoble8928]

Could we inflate the lunar one with mine lunar ice? Seems like it would protect from impacts and radiation better if so? Even if pierced, the impact would melt the ice, which would quickly freeze again as it escaped sealing the perforation? Just curious.

[@mikeconnery4652]

When it rains on the moon it's tiny meteorites. If your exterior bags are premade to be sand filled around the exterior to protect the inhabitants and to hold the preasure that we live under. It would be best to build into the rock for safety and you may still need to use these bags because you need to seal your entire habitate. This would be easier if all this is printable on the the moon, planet, or astroid.

[@The_PaleHorseman]

I was just talking about this with someone while playing Kerbal space program 2 the other day no joke, I was saying where’s the gravity modules that have artificial gravity that rotate.

[@rJaune]

I wonder would the fabric in the modules hold on to smells worse than a normal module? Do you have to be more worried about mold, and bacteria?

[@phooogle]

Wonder how long before we get some huge Earth orbiting stations given the recent advancements?

[@valeriejones7733]

I'm wondering how the configuration could change. How could you make a connection port in the side panel. It seems like the only feasible way to connect them would be similar to a train.

[@massimookissed1023]

Maybe a not-inflated connection module, like a cube with a connection port on each face. You could still join 2 KIFE habs end-to-end, and have 4 spare connection points.

[@mattgrinder7859]

I would really like to know why we seem to be nowhere near a rotating habitat to produce artificial gravity? It doesn’t seem that hard to take two inflatable habitats, connect them, and get them rotating??

[@matthewring8301]

Since this material is pressurizable, can you use it under water?

[@kreynolds1123]

They may like to design and promote to NASA, an inflatable habitate that is rotated at a sufficent rait to provide artifical gravity comparable to the moon's gravity. This could help Astronauts train for and adapt to gravity on a lunar base.

[@ufoburnout]

I wonder if they could use such technology to create habitats within mars lava tubes. Use some kind of inflatable plug containing an airlock. Use at both ends of suitable space within lava tube for habitation within.

[@steveadams7550]

The problem with inflatables is you have a large frontal area and relatively low mass, so you have higher drag which needs higher propulsion to stay in orbit.