Airbus and Voyager Space Announce Joint Venture to Build and Operate New Space Station

By the end of the decade, there should be a new space station in orbit. Airbus and the American Voyager Space announced on Wednesday August 2 the creation of a joint venture to build and operate Starlab, a commercial space station intended to take over from the International Space Station (ISS) at the end of the decade.

“Dominantly American” with a leg in Germany where many Airbus Defense and Space sites are located, this joint venture must meet “proven demand from global space agencies, while opening up new prospects for commercial users”, says Matthew Kuta, president of Voyager Space, quoted in the joint press release.

To take over from the ISS, NASA intends to purchase services rather than manage the programs itself, as it already does to send astronauts into space. It thus granted, at the end of 2021, 160 million dollars to Voyager Space, via its subsidiary Nanoracks, to develop Starlab. It also awarded 130 million to Blue Origin, founded by Jeff Bezos, and 126 million to giant Northrop Grumman to develop their own station projects.

Another American company, Axiom Space, is also developing its station with NASA support and industrial participation in the Franco-Italian Thales Alenia Space project.

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European spearhead

Airbus’ participation in Starlab, which has already been providing technical support since January, allows Voyager Space to consider that ESA, the European space agency, will use its services to continue sending European astronauts into space. while ensuring industrial returns in Europe. “We feel that we are the representative or perhaps the spearhead of Europe in this area. And of course we also do this to attract ESA and the Member States”, said Michael Schoellhorn, President of Airbus Defense and Space during a conference call.

The European group can rely on the expertise it has developed with the ATV automatic transfer vehicle or the European service module (ESM) designed for the American Artemis lunar missions, he argued. Neither Michael Schoellhorn nor the CEO of Voyage Space Dylan Taylor wanted to specify their respective participation in the joint venture or the amount of the project.

Starlab, which is to be put into orbit in a single launch by 2028, will be 8 meters in diameter, nearly twice that of the ISS, and half the volume, according to Dylan Taylor. “NASA and other space agencies will be the core of our activities for the first Starlab,” he explained. The station will be dedicated to research and work in microgravity that the pharmaceutical industry will also want to carry out there, but “we are not targeting space tourism”, he added.