The success of every space development initiative is optimized when one company’s efforts enables others.
Starbridge is excited to build upon those efforts by participating in Axiom Space’s most recent investment round. Axiom is building a commercial space station that will provide additional and expanded services to the International Space Station (ISS) and eventually be the basis of a transition to commercial human spaceflight when the ISS retires in 2025. Axiom’s engineers and staff have been at the forefront of operations of the ISS over the past 20 years and they are using that expertise to build and operate a commercial alternative to the ISS that will enhance and one day replace the ISS.
Axiom’s first space station will be assembled while connected to an ISS port designated by NASA for private space modules. Depending on the status of arrangements with NASA and other customers, as a next milestone, Axiom will deploy its own power and heat management systems and then detach from ISS prior to ISS’s retirement.
Axiom Space’s first three modules, including the Axiom Earth Observatory, attached to the International Space Station. Image courtesy Axiom Space.
Today, the ISS is run through a partnership of countries that built it including the United States, Russia, the European Space Agency (ESA), Japan and Canada. In order to visit the ISS, you must be a guest of one of those countries; with limited slots available chances are slim. That means even ESA member states have a limited allocation of seats available to them.
Axiom Space’s station operating independently Image courtesy Axiom Space.
Axiom’s target customers include national space agencies, private individuals, researchers, space manufacturing companies, private and public space exploration missions, and advertising/media companies.
Axiom fits our investment thesis as a commercial provider of infrastructure that supports the business models of many of our other current and future investments. Axiom is a vital part of the base layer of the “infrastructure” pyramid supporting sustained human space exploration and the colonization of the moon and Mars. As the ISS continues to age, its ability to support commercial development will continue to be reduced. Axiom Station is a cornerstone of the future of human spaceflight.
We look forward to the day when there are multiple commercial orbital platforms making money and providing unique and cutting-edge services to people on Earth. We see Axiom as a major player in this future market, satisfying the demand for human spaceflight on Earth, the demand for a microgravity research and manufacturing platform in proximity to Earth, and serving as a proving ground for missions to deeper space.