NASA & Axiom Space Designing Commercial Expansion Of Space Station

It's been 4 years since NASA first seriously suggested the idea of commercial expansion of the International Space Station, and at the end of January they announced an agreement with Axiom Space to begin designing the extension with launches happening possibly as early as 2024.
The specific details of the agreement are not clear at this time, however it's known that the initial phase is a design study and business case analysis with reviews required before approving the next phase.
www.nasa.gov/nextstep/issport
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[@Buy-n-large]

the jewel of the BNL fleet, the Axiom! spend your 5 year cruise in style, waited on twenty-four hours a day by our fully automated crew!

[@roku_nine]

Mutiny!!

[@RandomTheories]

wall-eeeee

[@Yuuni_Shiroza]

Plant

[@osikiro6818]

Omg i was looking for this!

[@mrmaniac3]

How many 5 year cruises has it been...

[@t65bx25]

*Expand station “ISS” around Earth* Agency: Axiom Space We were dumpster div- ehrm, researching alternative applications for existing technologies when we came across some interesting questions. This is where you come in. *Be in command of ISS* *Note: “ISS” is currently in orbit of Earth. *Increase “ISS” Capacity to 7 Kerbals* *Note: “ISS” currently houses 6 Kerbals *Ensure the station has an antenna, docking port and is controllable.* $20000 Completion: $175000 2⚛ ⭐️15 Failure: $-190000 ⭐️-17 Decline: ⭐️-2

[@deusexaethera]

"Researching alternative applications for existing technologies" means "trying to convert random objects into bongs". That's what it ALWAYS means.

[@Fred_the_1996]

@@deusexaethera or mistery goo

[@ready1player31]

T-65B X-Wing Fighter Gotta do this in my RSS save now 😂

[@SixDasher]

Decline

[@willabyuberton818]

That is actually pretty impressive.

[@thomas.02]

random thought: when companies stop putting "space" in their names then we know the space industry has truly begun/matured

[@technocracy90]

Wow I've never thought in this way and this makes a lot of sense

[@tinldw]

So, SpeisseX is 100% doomed?

[@maxk4324]

@@tinldw More like this. When Ford first started it was called (and technically still is called) the "Ford Motor Company." However today, when new car companies are created (albeit not that often) I have never seen them add an ending like that to their name (eg Tesla's legal title is Tesla Inc.) because the mere fact that a company makes cars is not itself that impressive or unique anymore. However, like with the Ford Motor Company, this does not mean that companies with names from the era when space was exclusive enough to warrant putting it in the company name (ie now) will not survive long into the future.

[@ForwardUn2Dawn]

@@maxk4324 Waiting on SpaceX to drop the Space and just be X lol

[@maxk4324]

@@ForwardUn2Dawn Well SpaceX's full title is the "Space Exploration Technologies Corp" so maybe one day we will simply know them as the "Exploration Technologies Corp." (likely not given the level of brand recognition the name "SpaceX" has, but it's fun to imagine it)

[@dereksgc]

Canadarm crawling around the ISS is literally one of the creepiest things I've seen... look it up, I'm sure there are some gifs

[@TechyBen]

Creepy? I see what you did there... But I Iove those kind of things... but then again, I also like caterpillars and bugs. :P

[@-danR]

@Daniel Kintigh I think this video shows the effect clearly enough.

[@-danR]

Here we go. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gZ3Ffmedj8yXgqM Most of the vid it's stationary so you'll have to skim through it.

[@HuntingTarg]

The detachable Canadarm is wierd - but also cool. It may be Canada's most useful contribution to spaceflight and operations to date.

[@dereksgc]

@Daniel Kintigh I think I saw it in NASA's video on the lunar orbiter platform gateway (or whatever they call it, LOP-G I think), it's also gonna use the Canadarm for the construction, and you can see it crawling around like a caterpillar

[@markusr3259]

First its for commercial research... 10 years later will the ISS be getting a blackjack and hookers module?

[@linyenchin6773]

I thought the ISS was set to be decommissioned within the next 5 or so years?

[@kevskevs]

Holosuites!

[@S0Psycho]

No, I will make my own ISS with blackjack and hookers

[@gavinsonsalla9319]

@@linyenchin6773 I believe they extended it into the 2030's

[@JohnnyZenith]

@@linyenchin6773 Unless private enterprise can take it over or add profitability. I hope they keep expanding. I'm annoyed that Bigelow have so far done bugger all in space.

[@darkguardian1314]

Makes sense to expand it instead of deorbiting the whole thing. Use existing components as a foothold and undock older parts for disposal. 🧐

[@gresvig2507]

That makes perfect sense-- and seems infinitely more sensible.

[@k1productions87]

Especially since most of the US modules are basically just pressurized shells. As long as the structure holds, they can remain indefinitely, so long as they are attached to something with attitude control and power

[@BothHands1]

yeah, exactly, and that way if say the solar panels or water purification or O2 generator malfunction on one, the other can hold them over until new parts can be taken into orbit. definitely makes infinitely more sense for them to stick together, rather than being apart. it's just safer

[@samsonguy10k]

That's actually in the cards for Russia and their segments. What Axiom wants to do Russia is already planning to do. The ISS might be giving birth to two new stations and not just one.

[@shaun906]

id move the ISS to a L1 or L2 lagrange orbit, or maybe the moon.

[@JaredOwen]

Thanks Scott - great video!

[@rmsbismarck6975]

Noice

[@deathwatch27]

God damn it. My Legos ISS is already out of date!

[@kokodin5895]

i kind of hoped they keep expanding the iss indefinite and it just get bigger and bigger

[@HuntingTarg]

There are structural limits to that, esp. w/ regard to the station's orientation and tidal forces acting on docking couplings.

[@jmd1743]

@@HuntingTarg Yea but we can pull a Ship of Theseus where eventually all old ISS modules would be replaced & burned up bit by bit in the atmosphere.

[@jakubkandera95]

didn't you see the openning scene from Valerian? that's exactly what comes to my mind watching Axiom"s animations ( /watch?v=q6oTziHKM_c)

[@k1productions87]

The US modules can be easily salvaged since they are just pressurized hulls. Its the Russian segments (which at present provide the majority of attitude control for ISS) that are the issue

[@95rav]

yep... keep bolting modules on until we have 'RingWorld'.

[@WeirdSeagul]

looks like they yoinking the canada arm when the space station decommissions

[@jakubkandera95]

lmao, I was wondering if it was their own copy or the original

[@nagualdesign]

It sure did.

[@Max-pj4ok]

they do be stealin tho

[@Blackholefourspam]

looks like they have their own arm, I think the original is the one that casts them off

[@nagualdesign]

@@Blackholefourspam Good eye. At 4:20 we see the new, slightly smaller arm appear (via supply mission?) before the Canadarm unberths (or should that be "births"?) the new station.

[@--ART3MIS--]

"no relation to Tony"... funny one.

[@linyenchin6773]

He might have a Tony in his family but not THE Tony...

[@gavinsonsalla9319]

"I AM _not_ IRON MAN"

[@randyphillips2263]

Even I caught that reference

[@namewarvergeben]

@@linyenchin6773 Perhaps Tony Probe

[@thePronto]

Tony? Tony who? Do you mean Elon?

[@atoaster6715]

Congrats on 1 million subscribers!

[@MisterItchy]

Oh yeah!

[@eannamcnamara9338]

If they scrap the iss it will be super sad. The iss is a historical monument. It should be kept alive as a historical vessel like the USS missouri was.

[@julianpetit4180]

Easier to return an aircraft carrier to port than a fragile space habitat to the surface

[@noname-wo9yy]

@@julianpetit4180 just put it into a high orbit

[@julianpetit4180]

213423 134242 That would be a better alternative, because if we really wanted to get the ISS down, we could use Starship or another larger vessel.

[@eannamcnamara9338]

@@julianpetit4180 not like that. What I mean is keep it in space.

[@jakubkandera95]

Maybe we could start a kickstarter campaign to buy one Starship flight and push the space station into higher orbit, I would sure go for that!

[@Spacejunkie13]

The NASA award was granted to add commercial capability to the ISS, but Axiom wants to free fly its modules once ISS reaches an end of life. A separate NASA award under NEXTstep will be for a free flying commercial space station, in which Bigelow, Nanoracks and others will compete. So we may get two commercial space stations flying this decade.

[@adamanderson3042]

1 year on from your comment and today we have four commercial space stations under contract with NASA and potentially flying this decade. What an exciting time.

[@tubbyscrubb6721]

Would be cool if this thing kept expanding indefinitely like the space station in valarian

[@HuntingTarg]

There are structural limits to that, esp. w/ regard to the station's orientation and tidal forces acting on docking couplings.

[@Theodorus5]

@@HuntingTarg: is there any way to avoid those?

[@FonVegen]

I guess pushing its orbit away from Earth would help; maybe steer it into a Lagrange Point?

[@lonesnark]

@@HuntingTarg In Valarian they pushed the station into higher and higher orbits and ultimately away from the Earth for this exact reason.

[@Theodorus5]

@@FonVegen: good idea...Lagrange 5..

[@lromijn]

The name axiom remembers me of the film Wall.E 😬

[@k1productions87]

Buy N Laaaaarrrrrrge

[@theflightchannel7840]

O shit commercial sector is gonna take overrr

[@roku_nine]

The future doesn't look so bright....

[@Ergzay]

@@theflightchannel7840 Luckily Hollywood's continuous hate fest for anything private doesn't reflect reality.

[@spikes1529]

i was really looking forward to Bigelow modules

[@mcdoctorglock]

I know, right? Why do it any other way? Sounds like some money slipped under the desk made a few friends get what they wanted.

[@deanc9453]

+

[@nikolatasev4948]

They didn't hire enough ex-NASA "consultants".

[@redbovine]

Bigelow got the patents for their modules from nasa. Nasa had given up on the idea.

[@SebastianKaliszewskiInsider]

Bigelow is fumbling. Read their Glassdoor reviews - they have serious management problem.

[@dereksgc]

YES! More modules means more brightness, more brightness means more cool in the night sky. I'm just waiting for the fully expanded commercial ISS when Starship docks with it, gonna look like a second moon up there

[@spencermanyet5336]

The private space station from WALL-E was called Axiom too...

[@NirateGoel]

It was just a ship not a station...

[@PapiDoesIt]

I'd like to see the ISS morph into a giant star port some day, where Starfleet can build ships to boldly go where no one has gone before.

[@TheRezro]

Unlikely, but it would be obvious jumping point for future projects.

[@surfeit5910]

That would require a united government entity to forgo profits and work for the betterment of humanity... NOT going to happen anytime soon. :(

[@JamieSteam]

Papi have you seen the first few minutes of the film "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets"? It's basically exactly that. Very cool.

[@alexsiemers7898]

If the original ISS modules are decommissioned as new modules come along, could we call it the Theseus station?

[@benjamino.7475]

We are literally going the exact opposite direction by selling out to private companies. Sadly no Space Utopia, that’s late stage Anarcho Space Capitalism in the making.

[@streetwind.]

If that cupola ends up only half as impressive as they made it look in the animations, science work on the ISS will grind to a halt because none of the astronauts will want to be anywhere else anymore. :p Truly breathtaking.

[@SuperQBoi]

You wouldn't be able to use it without pressurizing yourself in a proper spacesuit as the solar radiation would murder you through that glass.

[@Christopher28fair]

I'm posting this before watching this new video: I just want to say that Scott is easily the most scientifically literate and technically well-informed of the space exploration channels I'm subscribed to. I think "WhatAboutIt" has a good research team, but I think he would be at sea without his team, and EverydayAstronaut works hard but isn't as knowledgable either. SpaceXCentric is an enthusiast, and LaPadre just videos. Engineering Today doesn't break much new ground either. Scott is obviously very smart - kind of scary how he can just talk for twenty minutes on nearly any scientific subject, and I don't think he even uses notes.

[@scottmanley]

Well thank you, I do use some notes, just to make sure I don't forget things.

[@odysseusrex5908]

Engineering Today frequently just plagiarizes their verbiage from text sources.

[@carso1500]

I think Issac Arthur definetly has him beat, but scott is surely a very literate person it would be awesome to have like a conversation with him

[@benbaselet2026]

@@carso1500 I think Isaac and his team do a lot of research and then he just reads the script, so the format isn't exactly the same as Scott seems to be more of the story telling kind (obviously with some research back there and a "script" for sure, but still).

[@kirtil5177]

3:33 wow the arm can detach and attach itself across the station. dang o.o

[@spencerjensen1993]

Space stuff is so cool!

[@tanveerh.7889]

Hah! The Chinese space station has one of those bad boys too. I'm guessing that's where their purchase of Kuka Robotics came in "handy".

[@jaykay4137]

I love that canadarm2 can crawl from section to section as the station expands

[@Cold_Leftovers]

I wish we would just keep adding to the iss. I want a sky city!!

[@HuntingTarg]

There are structural limits to that, esp. w/ regard to the station's orientation and tidal forces acting on docking couplings. I am partial to the Gateway Foundation's proposal.

[@z-beeblebrox]

@@HuntingTarg There are, but for what we are capable of even super-optimistically, I wouldn't worry about that. Along its orbital plane (shell?), we can theoretically build and build until we've made a ring around the entire Earth. And yeah that comes with a bunch of complications due to it being in LEO, but we're nowhere close to being able to do something like that. At best, if we just started flinging stuff up there as much as possible, I wouldn't expect much more than something the size of a small town in volume. And that after several decades. At that puny scale, tidal forces are irrelevant.

[@jeffvader811]

That might attract the deep space Kraken, unless you use autostrut...

[@icollectstories5702]

The odor cannot be removed.

[@maxk4324]

@@z-beeblebrox You know that the gateway foundation's project is not to build an orbital ring, right? @HuntingTarg is talking about their "Von Braun Station" proposal, which is much smaller than a small town.

[@frankowalker4662]

Congrats on the 1M subs. Great vid as usual, Scott.

[@KillerSpud]

I still think they should do a huge module the size of a full fairing like they did with SkyLab. That would be a blast to have Ender's Game battles in.

[@Ry_TSG]

The Killer Spud once Starship starts flying, they could just dock a starship to it and decouple/deorbit the starship service module and boom, huge module, no fairing required. They could even do this multiple times with only starships and make a mega station.

[@shleed]

Bigelow aerospace could do it. I'm a little disappointed they aren't the ones building this station.

[@danielwhyatt3278]

That’s inevitably going to happen. Especially with the design with the inflatable module. Now that’s definitely the way to go.

[@sokolo161]

@@someguy32423 that would probably be a lot cheaper. The current target price for mass produced starship is 5mil by 2024 with two starships beeing put together per week. And considering that the rockets used in this project probably arent even gonna be reusable is speaking for itself. Once Starship and superheavy work as intended there are no Limits as to what can be cheaply built in space. We could build our own artificial gravity space stations if everything works as intended and it would cost less than the project described in this video.

[@maxk4324]

@@Ry_TSG Starship doesn't have a service module. The propulsion and propellant tanks are permanently integrated with the crew living area.

[@linyenchin6773]

Beautiful imagery that makes it feel like we are really enrout to a real Space Age 💖

[@paulsaunders9732]

Lin Yen Chin I totally agree. It left me with the feeling that we really are on the doorstep of a new era.

[@JohnnyThund3r]

Kinda sad they went with Axiom and not Bigelow. I want to see one of those big inflatables in space someday.

[@MoraFermi]

Bigelow's tech is definitely not going to disappear. Either they will launch something of their own or get working for SpaceX/Bue Origin/Virgin Galactic.

[@mcdoctorglock]

It seems Bigelow doesn't have friends with enough pull as Axiom does. What a shame we can't get what's actually better, for fears that kickbacks might dry up. Keep politics out of research! Keep politics out of space! (edit to add, politics in this term as the corrupt and often shady dealings that are done under the desk and out of the eyes of the public at large. I didn't mean keep policies out of space, that would be impossible. I would just like to see a fair and open process where our tax dollars are spent on getting the best that they can, not who gives the guys that decide the best "incentive.")

[@aritakalo8011]

Probably track record and reliability. Bigelow inflatable offer large room, but are still in testing. Who knows, if this gets of the ground maybe they add a bigelow module later. Since Axiom is really more a prime contractor given that for example Thales Alenia is contracted for the hulls. The station is a full modular, so they can later add more modules. After bigelow has spend say until 2028 on ISS, they might have enough track record to be contracted for large inflatable module hull by Axiom. Frankly this looks the most viable commercial idea I have seen in ages. Building on known quantity items, known long track companies. Instead of much of new space commerce ventures being "our whole business case depends on this new untested thing, if it not work we go bankrupt and/or get crew killed. First full test in full deployment"...... ehhhhh....... suuuureeee guys. Specially when talk is of stations. It is one thing to test new thing on rocketry. Shoot rocket it explodes, well too bad make new one until it lasts the launch duration. Space station on the other hand has to last decades to make sense sending it up. So taking new ideas have to be done on really careful basis. Case in point sending a Bigelow hull to ISS for the simple purpose of having it be bombarded in space to see how long the new hull type lasts, compared to the old from dawn of space exploration metal pressure vessels. Heck it might be better and last longer, but we don't know before have long endurance tests. Simulations and on Earth testing can only get so far. I'm sure Bigelow will get their full modules to space eventually. Things just take time, when it is matter of "this is life support critical and has expected lifespan of decades". It is still early days for space exploration. Also I see Bigelow likely becoming like Thales Alenia. There might not be ever "Bigelow station", but everyone knows Bigelow is the trusted contractor station integrators contract to make inflatable hulls and combine it with modules and hulls from others. Someone makes the hard shell connectors, bigelow is contracted for the spacious habitation hull, someone else gets the contract for the power module tower, yet another specialist is contracted for the docking adapters and so on,

[@i077]

Seems like this new section is extremely well thought out, as you'll expect from the experienced talents who worked on the ISS. Bigelow is just a module, I don't remember seeing a detailed plan from them, at least not to this extend, of how to build an entire section that's completely self sustainable. I think that is the biggest consideration for the privatized wing, rather than raw usable space.

[@kazioo2]

@@MoraFermi These companies want to get paid to launch stuff... they won't give Bigelow a dime.

[@Norsilca]

Really hope it happens. I'm pretty skeptical that this could be actually profitable in the foreseeable future, but hey, maybe NASA would be a customer and keep them afloat.

[@ScenicFlyer4]

I feel like once the space station is decommissioned they should move it to a much higher orbit that's 100% out of the atmosphere and just keep it there as a historic monument almost. They wouldn't do maintenance as that would be too expensive probably, but it would be cool if in the distant future once our technology has greatly advanced we could look back to where it all started.

[@SharpsKC]

Hey we need to start the AXIOM vs MLM docking pool :) Considering the Russians have plans to take some of the ISS with them, it looks like a good percentage of the ISS will be stripped for parts before the rest is disposed of. KIBO has only been flying since 2008 so it probably has some life in it. Although I know there are concerns about the lifespan of its airlock. Lots of it are just going to be plain worn out at least by reasonable safety standards by 2030.

[@MisterItchy]

I hope I live to see this! Congratulations on 1 Million Subs!!!

[@dave8599]

You need to be rich enough to see it too.

[@darthmop1]

Axiom.....now after this video, I am just waiting for an announcement by Boston Dynamics introducing a scrap collecting robot and well....you know the rest of the story

[@GalileoAV]

That's unimaginably badass. Axiom sounds like science fiction almost

[@S0Psycho]

0:49 What are those burn marks on the (bottom?) of the ISS ??

[@tinldw]

Yes, those are probably deposited by rocket engines

[@MrFaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa]

looks like that is an RCS port

[@joshuabarosin779]

that part of the Russian segment, its either the Zarya or Zvezda Module and it performs the kick burns to maintain the stations orbit

[@dsdy1205]

Basically soot marks from the thrusters

[@Miata822]

Stain is the color of N2O4

[@Nickxis]

We need more space stations!

[@icollectstories5702]

We need to be able to afford more space stations.😥

[@carso1500]

@@icollectstories5702 we can, we just need designs

[@icollectstories5702]

@@carso1500 How much money ya got? 'Cause I have a great design ....

[@GrovesCustomLumber]

Great video Scott! I’m wondering, will they keep the larger Canadarm or both once the ISS goes RSD?

[@mumblbeebee6546]

I get a kick out of that robot arm moving about the assembly - with all my love for CanadArm, that is such a great approach (and a nice exercise for aspiring control systems engineers)

[@Gribbo9999]

Well done Scott I just noticed you are over the million subscriber mark! Enjoy all your videos - keep them coming!

[@theblah12]

Reminds me of the intro to Valerian where they just kept bolting on modules to the ISS until it became this moon-sized monstrosity.

[@geodream.]

Watching the canadarm crawl around the outside of the ISS is so awesome

[@benbaselet2026]

That just begs to be starred in a B-rated space horror movie. The arm gets a new AI module which goes on a killing spree!

[@geodream.]

@@benbaselet2026 Yeah, the crew could be safe inside the station, but at some points they have to go outside to fix broken parts while hiding from this murderous arm.

[@honorablespartan]

Scott, might wanna consider putting the social media links in the channel description to the video descriptions as well for ease of access.

[@scottmanley]

Good idea.

[@cowboybob7093]

@@scottmanley I wanted to bring these _Scientific American_ articles to your attention, both February 2020: *Escaping the Tyranny of the Rocket Equation* - blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/escaping-the-tyranny-of-the-rocket-equation/ *No One Can Explain Why Planes Stay in the Air* - www.scientificamerican.com/article/no-one-can-explain-why-planes-stay-in-the-air/

[@Kevin_Street]

Thanks for another awesome video! This seems like a good idea, or at least the render animation is really pretty. I hope all the modules will be that easy to catch and move around in real life. Having a private space station still orbiting the Earth after NASA decamps for the Moon is a definite plus.

[@jeffvader811]

Personally I think the next project should be an international moon base (I know they're planning gateway, but most of the new science is on the lunar surface, not in orbit!), which we can then commercialise later on. But I don't think NASA and others will be quick enough to get there before the private companies at this rate.

[@HalNordmann]

I hope this happens. The private companies outpacing the governments is kinda scary.

[@americanloyalist4599]

The gateway is ment to support the moon base

[@americanloyalist4599]

@@HalNordmann not really

[@americanloyalist4599]

@@HalNordmann u should be rooting for the private corporations

[@jeffvader811]

@@americanloyalist4599 It doesn’t really.

[@egybizonyosember]

Where can I find some highly technical descriptions of manufacturing in space? I did a quick Google search, but most articles were pretty vague and/or generally directed towards a reader who doesn't know that much about manufacturing. I'd like to see some of the more technical details.

[@coenogo]

egybizonyosember I don’t know if there really are that many, seeing as it’s a pretty new phenomenon.

[@TheEvilmooseofdoom]

Space manufacturing is one of those things that always puzzled me. Moon I can see, where some gravity is a help, but zero G? Outside of perhaps things that are grown I don't see much manufacturing.

[@egybizonyosember]

@@TheEvilmooseofdoom That's basically my reason for being interested as well. I heard 3D printing kind of works, but I'd like to know how. I would guess that bending is also feasible, as is probably injection moulding with some modifications. Most techniques, however, I can't imagine. Like, how do you use a lathe or a milling machine in orbit? Those things are reasonably powerful, once you start them up, you need to produce counter-torque or the whole station will spin up. Also, chips fly around everywhere, how to deal with that? If I weren't tired, I could probably think up quite a few more reasonably technical questions. I'd really like to know how they work around it.

[@friendlyone2706]

crystal growth is purer in zero g. Research on mammalian cells is MUCH easier in 3 g---stuff known in the 1970's. maybe sooner? Or at least reasonably postulated sooner? Does anyone know why such information isn't readily available? Or frequently made a subject of general interest level KZbin videos?

[@TheEvilmooseofdoom]

@@egybizonyosember I want to know how they're going to handle smelting in zero G or casting or.. well like you said, any real industrial process. One might argue that space manufacturing would only be the assembly of already manufactured parts. THAT I can see. But not the making of the parts themselves.

[@pspicer777]

Scott would love your take on the Biglow module and their prospects. Their design seems to make a lot of sense.

[@phred196]

For a second I thought the headline said Pirate expansion of iss. That would have been a more fun story. In space no one can hear you say ahrrrrrr.

[@Shadowkey392]

4:30 in other words, you could at the ISS will become something akin to an orbiting shipyard. Cool!

[@nicholasmaude6906]

When the ISS is eventually decommissioned, Scott, instead derogating it I hope that NASA boosts it into a permanent orbit as it should be preserved.

[@RandomTheories]

with current mass, that would be hell of a boost but I agree, it would be nice

[@nicholasmaude6906]

@@RandomTheories A Progress spacecraft could do it.

[@Gilgwathir]

The tower folding part is seriously cool!

[@faragar1791]

I hope that some sections of the ISS might get brought back to earth safely and intact so that they could be studied and put on display in museums. I know it's unlikely to happen, but O can still wish for it.

[@odysseusrex5908]

By the time the ISS is decommissioned, Starship will be operational and should be capable of doing that. It's just a question of somebody paying for it.

[@hazardous458]

Faragar Why not study it in space? Brining it home is a waste of money.

[@faragar1791]

@@hazardous458 Well, it would be nice to have parts of it for sentimental reasons.

[@diGritz1]

2:33 ..... It kinda looks like someone repurposed the Interior of Discovery One from 2001

[@trespire]

Zero-G stewardesses included, I hope.

[@RCAvhstape]

All you need is an awkward family birthday wish to Frank Poole on that tablet screen.

[@tma2001]

my thoughts too ...will come it come with its own AI ?

[@KnighteMinistriez]

Awesomeness. I do love space travel, especially commercial space travel.

[@killernat1234]

To be honest it’s probably best to keep the ISS indefinitely, sure it might be out dated technology but overtime each module could be replaced and the older ones could be sold to private companies for cheaper than it would cost to build a brand new segment, this being if a company wanted their own segment on the ISS or their own space station, the ISS may not be up to NASA’s needs now but it could be to someone else, and if NASA can get rid of it without having to de-orbit it and get a small bit of money back from it then everyone would benefit from it

[@friendlyone2706]

Like the subterraneum catacombs of Paris, the original station would lie deep within earth's largest low-orbit space port---rarely seen, an object of rumor and mystery.

[@Christopher-pe6zj]

Thanks for the video!!! Love watching these!

[@BlueJazzBoyNZ]

It will be interesting to see if the scale of the proposed modules changes once Starship becomes operational.

[@kevinrdunnphs]

They could have made it bigger with the inflatable modules

[@TheWindigomonster]

I've always been curious about how much power the ISS gets, where it's all stored & allocated, etc

[@SkulShurtugalTCG]

Those gigantic solar panels didn't give it away?

[@nagualdesign]

You should try Wikipedia. Or Google.

[@hazardous458]

Skul He asked for how much power and it gets and where it’s stored. Not how it gets it’s power.

[@vonschlesien]

The solar panels provide something around 100kW. The original batteries for shadow times are NiH, but they're slowly being swapped out for lithium. (A bit of an annoying process, since it requires an EVA.) Interesting side note, because generation and storage is solar + battery, the internal electrical systems are all DC.

[@friendlyone2706]

The best thing about Scott Manley videos: They attract really spot commentators! One of the few with over a thousand comments and I read most of them!

[@Taffeyboy]

Thank you, Scott. Another job well done.

[@joj.]

At a time when international relations are getting more and more tense, I'm a little disappointed that the US is planning more for a private american company to build it's own space station as the ISS ages rather than aiming to keep expanding and upgrading it.

[@odysseusrex5908]

Makes sense to me.

[@DistracticusPrime]

Y'all come!

[@ryzkyjaeger07]

What are you, stuck in the Cold War? Pathetic

[@carso1500]

Well the US is kinda the only country with the technology and industry for a privatized space sector so it kinda makes sense it's an american company

[@joj.]

@@carso1500 I don't mean that I have a problem with an American company doing it, it's just disappointing that the official plan seems to be to replace a huge multinational project that helped research worldwide with a single private company's station. I have no doubts that it will make it's own scientific contributions, but the ISS being by nature a vessel that made countries work together to achieve a common goal and better scientific research is going to be replaced with a private vessel built by a single American company. It's through international collaborations like LSC (LIGO), CERN and the ISS that we've made some of our greatest discoveries, and we've been able to put aside multinational differences to work together for the betterment of scientific research. As such, I find it quite a shame.

[@gavinsonsalla9319]

We're finally firmly planting our foot in space, as was once said "We are the middle children of history. Born too late to explore earth. Born too early to explore space." Well, it looks like that's about to change.

[@TimLF]

Always the right time to explore Science and Technology.

[@alexsiemers7898]

Then we need to be that link connecting the past and future of humanity. I’d use Columbus as an example, but I think we’ll have a lot less genocide in space.

[@LateNightCrypto]

great video. can you throw one together that shows us what we might see after phase 4? ive heard Micahel discuss a city in pace with rotation "in the secnd half of the century" but they havent put out a video showing that vision yet. I'd love to see somebody discuss that in more depth. He describes schools, theatres, restaurants in a rotating station. sounds incredible

[@TOMiX1024]

That sounds very intriguing!

[@jameshansen1903]

Someday ISS will stand for International Space Shipyard.

[@friendlyone2706]

Logical place for Space Force Headquarters. Especially since no one wants to give up their corner offices in the Pentagon.

[@ranosian1135]

Lego. We are gonna need some more bricks for the I.S.S model please....

[@viliamklein]

Regarding the power tower (or tower of power?), the SIGI GPS receivers on the S0 truss are part of the attitude control loop for the station. The antennas already have some limited visibility of the constellation because of the forward tilt of the truss face they are mounted on, but more looming solar panels will not help with the satellite visibility or multipath...

[@bcs3260]

I wonder how much of a trick it would be to launch something on an F9 or FH (etc.) that has mostly the same external size and shape as the existing standard fairing? It would impose some significant constraints on what you could hang on the outside... at least during launch. OTOH if you don't need to launch any other cargo, you could pack all that inside, launch un-pressurized (or if something close to a Balloon structure is used; de-pressurize once berthed) and seal things up after you manhandle all the parts out and bolt them in place with the included Allen wrench. Given the conical ends on those modules it looks like they are already thinking at least a little in that direction.

[@grahamnelson203]

Unless they have a good cleaning staff, it's going to get gross up there. Icky gross. Really quickly.

[@HuntingTarg]

Why do you say that? kzbin.info/www/bejne/gIaUpIaNeaqIn68. 😏

[@icollectstories5702]

zero-g scrub bots!

[@johncrowerdoe5527]

Just hire ISS, the global cleaning and facilities giant.

[@CodeLeeCarter]

This is what we need, companies hurrying to be one of the first in space,... Fuel the competition .

[@hydrochloricacid2146]

Exactly, this is when stuff starts going faster

[@voidremoved]

Someone rushing will slip on a banana peel a stitch, in time, saves nine... Hand me the Alien repellent bat-spray!

[@mikldude9376]

Looks really cool , small steps :) . I look forward to the day when we have gigantic space stations like in the movies , and giant space ships (even if they are slow :) ).

[@aritakalo8011]

better realized small steps, than never realized grand plans. combine enough realized small steps and one ends up with grand achievements. While the grand planner still hasn't gotten their single massive leap plan of the ground due to trying to do too much, too fast.

[@linyenchin6773]

I met a doppelganger of you at work earlier this month. He was like a slightly older version of you, same voice too but he has a Canadian accent.

[@No_one_cares_about_Ukraine]

WALL·E?

[@varjen018]

Nice to see i wasnt alone there!

[@pauljones3017]

_"A is for Axiom, your home sweet home. B is for Buy N Large, your very best friend."_

[@91_C4_FL]

I went looking for this comment and I found it lol

[@jwenting]

Wall-E was a massively anti-human propaganda movie....

[@karimjerbi7084]

@@jwenting what

[@Forest_Fifer]

Phillippe Starck, no relation to Tony... Nice one.

[@mr.boomguy]

2:50 - That's one masive observation module! The view will be mighty FINE, close so Awesome! The rest of the staiton do look like a 5 star hotel, but it's the observation deck that stick out to me!

[@jamesowens7176]

HI Scott. A few points: (1) SpaceX is already including an extended Falcon 9 fairing as part of their Air Force contract bid. (2) Axiom president is Mike Suffredini, who was the ISS manager at JSC for about 10 years. Between his personal ISS experience and his contacts from his time at JSC, it's a sinch that Axiom got the use of Node2 Fwd. At the very least, he knows what NASA expects from bidders. Check out the Suffredini interview on Main Engine Cutoff podcast. Lots of insight into how the company started and exactly what all they have planned.

[@tinkmarshino]

Dang! I knew it!! I just knew it.. they waited until I was old and in the way before they started to make room for space tourists.. I apologize to my generation..I was the reason they waited and none of you all got to go.. They just love teasing me.. I am so humiliated! Well thanks Scott for not blaming it all on me even though everyone already knows I am sure.. Well if any one wants me I will be over here in the corner eating worms.

[@DistracticusPrime]

I feel that too bro.

[@tinkmarshino]

@@DistracticusPrime dang brother.. what did we do wrong besides being born in the 50's Heck I even changed my socks and took a shower once to see if that would help.... nope.. Hey I have some extra worms?

[@friendlyone2706]

@@tinkmarshino What about us want-to-be space tourists born in the 40's?

[@tinkmarshino]

@@friendlyone2706 oh heck.. you all get to go before us 50's kids.. I will give my seat with respect to you.. Your the ones that got us there.. we 50's just watched..

[@FSMface]

Any LEGO ISS owners here? Where's my expansion kit? 😁

[@alexteneerste]

Always a pleasure when your videos pop up. Could you maybe make a video of the positioning of the solar panels on the ISS. Can they change position, are they stationary and positioned so that they take on as much sunlight orbiting earth as possible, and such questions. I see on every picture of the ISS solar panels positioned in different directions and wonder how that works. Would be great if you could do a video on it. Only a suggestion and certainly no obligation ofcours. See you on the next video.

[@odysseusrex5908]

their position on the station is fixed, but they are capable of being rotated to catch maximum sunlight. Look at 0:20 here, you can see the ones on the right are parallel to the truss, and the ones on the left are perpendicular to it.

[@avejst]

Interesting as always 👍 Thanks for sharing 👍😀

[@donjones4719]

Only question: will tourists travel by Dragon 2 or Starship?

[@epicbastard1]

soyuz

[@KnightRanger38]

Probably both, along with possibly some other spacecraft like the soyuz (or it's replacement) or even one from India (Gaganyaan).

[@firstnamesurname6130]

if it only has CBM or IDA docking systems it cant use Soyuz, unless the Russians start making a new model

[@jana31415]

Starship in buissnes class class Dragon in premium Economy class soyuz is ryanair class

[@treelonmusk8324]

@@jana31415 idk why people even suggest soyuz like that's such a small crammed capsule, no tourist would wanna be in that

[@Maximiliano.Montero]

2:11 If you turn your head you'll see a person replacing his hat

[@panpiper]

Marvelous! I seriously doubt launched fairings will be a problem for SpaceX.

[@xxgamer519xx8]

Additional units? A surprise to be sure but a welcome one.

[@jubjub83]

Last time I was this early, Elon still worked at PayPal

[@benbaselet2026]

I think it's the other way around. PayPal worked for Elon...

[@a32k57]

This is great, when they retire ISS they should just use it in piecing together more.

[@fl00fydragon]

The ISS should be preserved, even when it gets outdated. It's a monument of our species's history.

[@dr.zoidberg8666]

Space hotel is a good first step. What you _really_ want is a space amusement park, though. Imagine the possibilities microgravity brings to an amusement park.

[@mikldude9376]

Yeah , that would be cool , imagine projectile vomiting up in space :) . Sorry for that mage :) .

[@Widestone001]

@@mikldude9376 Gives "fragging people" a whole new meaning...

[@odysseusrex5908]

Imagine playing Quidditch for real.

[@Nobody-Nowhere]

I wonder who will get to be the servant for the rich people in space. Probably fun little extra gig for the scientists. Helps them work harder, as they know they can get into the 1st class if they only work hard enough.

[@andreaaristokrates9516]

Here we see socialism for the rich. The government kick starting a fully private company, that's just nuts.

[@stevejohnson6593]

you're not even wrong there

[@tybofborg]

It's how it's always worked. The government does plenty of long term R&D, building and testing, and then they hand the results over to private companies to profit off of. Like the internet, GPS, or the satellite launch technology it all began with.

[@andreaaristokrates9516]

@@tybofborg With internet and gps more companies could profit from it, pretty natural growth around the technologies could happen. I think it's wrong to give exclusive rights away to private. A lot of uni research (in Germany) gets scooped up because we don't have enough money for patents, so some random "rich company" (no young startup) ends up filing for the patent. Socialism for the rich yet again.

[@maxk4324]

Would you have preferred they just decommission the ISS and let it burn up in the atmosphere without letting any private company benefit from it at all? Don't get me wrong, I totally agree that the issue commonly referred to as "socialism for the rich" exists, but in the case of space tourism and private companies working on space station tech (rather than vehicles/transportation) the only names are big companies or companies owned by incredibly wealthy people. For example, the main competitor to Axiom is Bigelow Aerospace which is run by a Billionaire from Las Vegas.

[@friendlyone2706]

@@maxk4324 Liked happened with a previous space station---and did not need to and should not have happened. What a waste. If a private company had been given the "unfair" option of owning the last station, would that have better benefited us ordinary taxpayers?

[@fritzypooo]

While I love these concepts, I can't help but feel regret for how much space travel has shifted from a movement for all of humanity to one of profit and individual wealth.

[@Frostfly]

I wonder if Axiom is building out the structure for additional expansion. I'm waiting for De-flopification.

[@TheGargalon]

Time for the SpaceXStation

[@Widestone001]

You know, just take 2 Starships, take out the fuel tanks, make the docking point between the 2 big enough for people to pass through and boom, SpaceXStation. Or even, just hollow out one of these, turn it into a station and use a SuperHeavy to bring it to orbit. Like the first american station, SkyLab.

[@jeffvader811]

@@Widestone001 I did the math on that once, Starship's pressurised volume + the volume of the tanks is about 2,400 m^3, so if needs be there's loads of space to convert Starship into a big ol' space station.

[@jon2431]

Really looking forward to seeing how my tax money helps this wonderful private space station!

[@DARisse-ji1yw]

Keep ISS operational... costs lots to put it up there. Use it to build more independent stations. Then stick a large ion thruster module, stock it with parts & goodies, and do some flybys of Mars or Venus with it....

[@ft6755]

This is incredibly exciting stuff

[@tomasbrod1533]

Beautiful. Now I want to do this in KSP.

[@MrWATCHthisWAY]

I vote for Scott Manley to be one of the first tourists in space based on the fact that you have been educating the masses for such a long time. Get in shape Scott and stay in shape because your going to need it Sir when you get voted in!! Fly safe Scott. Darn a Scotty in space, where have we heard this before. “ We need more power Captain”.

[@tomf3150]

If anything goes wrong, I'd say send the Kardashians first.

[@MrWATCHthisWAY]

Bright Wanderer - im glad to hear this even if I’m late to the party. Where can we signup to vote for Scott?

[@TheEvilmooseofdoom]

I don't think passengers are picked by ballot. I think it would have to be something more like a fun raiser to buy scott the first ticket. :)

[@MrWATCHthisWAY]

Lensflare Deviant - a GoFund Me page for Scott to go into space. Sounds like a plan for all his Fans that would like to see Scott launch his dairy-air into low-earth orbit. I would love to see his facial expression on a live feed the moment he could view the earth for the first time looking out that large planned observatory capsule attached to the ISS looking directly towards earth. Like Jody Foster said in the movie First Contact when she was sent on that first launch of that capsule; “They should have sent a poet”. Who would have the words to describe what one would witness when looking at such wonderment!

[@TheEvilmooseofdoom]

@@MrWATCHthisWAY or he could just get space sick throw up on a live stream.. :P

[@Mr6Sinner]

Why bother separating from the ISS? Just keep building out and dropping individual sections until we’ve got a full scale orbiting space port.

[@harkonen1000000]

One note, Cupola was not European designed, it was actually designed by Boeing by mistake. Who was building it changed a lot, and it was supposed to be Brazilians who were supposed to make it at one point.

[@incargeek]

When I was at Huntsville, Alabama, USA in January 1996 looking at station modules I met an engineer who was designing the cupola.