Category Archives: Space Station

BREVARD, Fla. The first Black woman to live and work at the International Space Station will join a SpaceX crew mission after April 2022, marking her first flight into space.

NASA said Jessica Watkins, 33, was assigned to the fourth and final seat on Crew Dragonfor SpaceX's Crew-4 mission.

The selection also means Watkins will become the first Black woman to join an ISS crew for scientific research, station maintenance, training, and more over a six-month period. Victor Glover, part of SpaceX's Crew-2 mission that launched in November 2020, became the first Black astronaut to join a station crew.

Black astronauts did visit the ISS during the space shuttle program that ran until 2011, but their stays were comparativelybriefand did not include full-on expeditions lasting several months.A total of 248 people have visited the now 21-year-old ISS; seven of them have been Black.

In 1983,Guion Bluford became the first Black astronaut to travel to space. Mae Jemison followed nine years later and became the first Black woman to do the same.

Watkins will fly as a mission specialist with three other colleagues: NASA'sRobert Hines andKjell Lindgren; andSamantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency. She considersLafayette, Colorado, her hometown and was a postdoctoral fellow at the California Institute of Technology before her astronaut selection in 2017.

Separately, NASA last year announced Watkins had also been chosen for the prestigious Artemis program, which aimsto put astronauts back on the lunar surface no earlier than 2025. Exact roles and mission assignments have not yet been released.

Jeanette Epps was originally chosen to be the first Black woman to join an ISS crew in 2018, but NASA reassigned her seat to another astronaut for reasons that were never made clear. She would have launched to the ISSon a Russian Soyuz rocket from Kazakhstan.

Follow Emre Kelly on Twitter: @EmreKelly.

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Jessica Watkins to be first Black woman to join an extended mission on the International Space Station - USA TODAY

LITTLE CURRENT A creative piece of Manitoulin will be headed to space this winter thanks to Violet Sutherland, 10, of Whitefish River First Nation after the Grade 5 Shawanosowe School students poster took top honours in a Royal Canadian Geographical Society contest.

Mission specialist, entrepreneur and Canadas soon-to-be newest astronaut Mark Pathy and his wife Jess came to the Manitoulin Hotel and Conference Centre last Friday to accept the poster and to learn more about the symbolism and meaning behind Violets winning entry.

Mark is doing Earth observation captures for us as part of a large project dealing with the Great Lakes, said Charlene Bearhead, director of reconciliation with the Royal Canadian Geographical Society before the presentation. Mr. Pathys work will help inform Canada, and the world, by providing data on important facets of the Great Lakes health and status.

This is great; anything we can do to improve our relationships is important, said Whitefish River First Nation Chief Shining Turtle. I am happy to play a small part in this, but it is really Pat Madahbee who has really connected the dots on thisand to Violet, for her great work and effort. This is wonderful to see and I am just so pleased to be just a small part of it.

I played my little part, laughed Mr. Madahbee, downplaying his contribution. I had noticed that Wiikwemkoong and Showanosowe have really done some incredible work with their robotics programs and environmental initiatives. The work of the water walkers, young people like Autumn Peltier and elders like her late aunt Josephine Mandamin, all the pieces pointed to these two schools. I just made a couple of connections.

I got the idea, (for my poster) of making an Earth, from my friend, said Violet, providing full disclosure of her initial inspiration for her image of our planet. I didnt copy her Earth though, I just copied the circle and made my own Earth.

Violet clearly captured the hearts and full attention of Mr. Pathy and his wife as the Shawanosowe School student explained the details behind the symbolism and figures on her poster under the doting gaze of her parents Mariette and Greg Sutherland, and siblings as they sat in front of the fireplace in the hotel lobby.

Mr. Pathy express the hope that a virtual connection can be made with Violet and her classmates at Shawanosowe School. Hopefully, we will be able to connect from space, he said, carefully adding a caveat, There are challenges with the timing and times zones and all that.

Mr. Pathy told The Expositor that he will be spending 10 days in space, eight on board the International Space Station and one day each travelling back and forth. He has spent several months undergoing training and study to prepare for the trip.

This will be the first private crew to head to the space station, Mr. Pathy shared. He will be the sole Canadian on the crew, making him the eleventh Canadian astronaut. Mr. Pathy will be collaborating with both the Canadian Space Agency and Montreals Childrens Hospital during the mission, taking on the role of mission specialist on the first-ever entirely private mission to the International Space Station.

Asked what prerequisite was required to secure the spot on the team, Mr. Pathy deadpanned, money. The well-known Canadian businessman and philanthropist ponied up a cool $55 million for his seat on the Axion mission.

As CEO and chairman of investment firm MAVRiK, as well as chairman of the board of Stingray (a music and media tech company), Mr. Pathy is one of a handful of wealthy individuals acting as pioneers in the new frontier of the commercialization of space.

Space travel has been a lifelong dream and Im thrilled to be joining my fellow crew members for this historic first, he said. I also look forward to dedicating some of my time on this mission to health research. His collaboration with the Montreal Childrens Hospital will identify research projects that could be undertaken during the Ax-1 mission.

We thought that it would be an interesting addition to hold a poster contest with students in Indigenous schools around the Great Lakes region, he said. He will be taking the poster aloft with him on his trip to the ISS.

Will Violet be getting her poster back? Absolutely, committed Mr. Pathy.

He explained that the Axiom had contracted SpaceX (Elon Musks satellite delivery business) to provide the transportation and contracted with NASA for the eight day stay on the space station.

Money wasnt the only commitment Mr. Pathy had to make as this will be a true busmans holiday and he has been in intensive training for his role for four months in Houston, Texas at NASAs training facilities there and in California at SpaceXs facilities. Most of it around emergency response, he said.

Asked by Violet if he was nervous, Mr. Pathy said that he really hadnt had a lot of time to get nervous or scared and the trip was still some way off. But he admitted he might feel a little trepidation when the countdown begins.

Violets parents, Greg Sutherland and Mariette McGregor, watched proudly as their daughter presented Mr. Pathy with several gifts, including a painting by Little Current Anishinaabe artist Duncan Pheasant, along with a signed interpretation of the symbolism in the work written by the artist himself.

Upon arriving at the hotel lobby, Mr. Pathy and his wife Jess presented Chief Shining Turtle and elder Stephen Pelletier with tobacco and cloth, and were then greeted with a ceremony that included a smudge, drumming and an honour song. Elder Pelletier also provided a short teaching to the astronaut and his wife.

The other astronauts who will be joining Mr. Pathy on the historic private mission include commander and former NASA astronaut Micheal Lpez-Alegra, as well as Israeli Eytan Stibbe and American Larry Connor. Mr. Lpez-is a true space veteran, having already been to space four times, the last time visiting the ISS in 2007. The team is expected to go aloft sometime in January.

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Birch Island girls image of the Earth bound for International Space Station - Manitoulin Expositor

The first woman aboard Chinas new space station has snapped some glorious shots of our homeworld during a six-month mission to space.

Wang Yaping flew to the Tianhe core module in October aboard the Shenzhou 13 spacecraft along with her colleagues Zhai Zhigang and Ye Guangfu.

An image taken by Wang on Nov. 18 shows Qinghai lake at the bottom of the image pointing east towards the distant East China Sea.

Qinghai lake is described by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre as an inland saline wetland of international importance.

Wangs colleagues, commander Zhai Zhigang and Ye Guangfu, took photos of Wang in the Tianhe module as she floated in microgravity and handled apples.

Related: The latest news about China's space program

Wang Yaping is a veteran of the 2013 Shenzhou 10 mission to the smaller Tiangong 1 space lab. During the two-week mission Wang delivered a live lecture on space physics to a class of children back on Earth, with millions of Chinese school children also watching the live broadcast.

The contrast between the Tiangong 1 and Tianhe, eight years apart, is apparent in an image shared by official space outreach channel Our Space.

The astronaut, who became the first Chinese woman to embark on an extravehicular activity, or spacewalk, is expected to perform a similar duty at some point during the six-month-long Shenzhou 13 mission.

Zhai, Wang and Ye began their mission on Oct 15 and carried out their first spacewalk on Nov. 7. The crews duties include testing and preparing the Tianhe module to receive new modules next year, as well as performing experiments and conducting science outreach.

The mission follows the three-month-long Shenzhou 12 mission which launched in June, sending the first three astronauts to Tianhe.

Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo also returned a series of stunning images of Earth using smartphones taken with them to space.

Meanwhile back on Earth in the Gobi Desert, Shenzhou 14 and a Long March 2F rocket stand in a state of near-readiness in case of an emergency on Tianhe.

Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

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Astronaut Wang Yaping snaps Earth photos and more from Chinese space station - Space.com

A new Russian module is on its way to the International Space Station.

A Russian-built Soyuz rocket carrying a modified Progress cargo spacecraft and the new Prichal docking module lifted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Wednesday (Nov. 24) at 8:06 a.m. EST (1306 GMT).

"Liftoff! Twenty-three years and four days after the first module launched to the International Space Station, a new docking port takes flight," NASA spokesperson Rob Navias said during the agency's live broadcast. "It was a flawless ride to orbit."

The Progress will deliver Prichal to the orbiting lab on Friday (Nov. 26) at 10:26 a.m. EST (1526 GMT), when Prichal will dock autonomously with Russia's new Nauka multipurpose module, if all goes according to plan. You can watch all of that action here at Space.com courtesy of NASA, or directly via the space agency.

Related: International Space Station at 20: A photo tour

The 4-ton, spherical Prichal (Russian for "pier") has about 494 cubic feet (14 cubic meters) of internal volume, according to RussianSpaceWeb.com. For comparison, SpaceX's Dragon cargo and crew capsules feature 328 cubic feet (9.3 cubic m) of pressurized volume.

Prichal sports six docking ports, one of which will link up with Nauka's Earth-facing port on Friday. The other five will be available for visiting spacecraft, helping to "expand the technical and operational capabilities of the orbital infrastructure of the Russian segment of the ISS," Russia's federal space agency, known as Roscosmos, wrote in an update recently.

Prichal could shape spaceflight beyond the ISS as well. Its applications include "testing architecture for potentially permanent settlements in space," according to RussianSpaceWeb.com, which notes that "it could also serve as a hub of [a] future new orbital base."

Prichal will be the second Russian module to arrive at the station in less than four months. Nauka reached the orbiting lab on July 29, and caused quite a stir when it did so. Nauka's thrusters fired in an unplanned fashion after docking, causing the ISS to rotate about 540 degrees.

No damage was done in that case, but space station managers are doubtless hoping that Prichal's arrival is much less eventful.

Mike Wall is the author of "Out There" (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or on Facebook.

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Russia launches new Prichal module to International Space Station - Space.com

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. Just in time for the holiday season, SpaceX is set to deliver supplies to the International Space Station before Christmas.

Tis the season for holiday deliveries, and SpaceXs Dragon spacecraft is planning to be part of the holiday haul.

READ: SpaceX crew launch marks 600 space travelers in 60 years

NASA officials at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station shared an image Sunday of the cargo spacecrafts arrival.

SpaceX set for holiday season delivery to International Space Station

This will be SpaceXs 24th cargo launch to the space station.

The launch is currently set for 5:06 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 21, from Launch Complex 39A.

READ: Court ruling allows SpaceX to develop lunar lander for NASA

Officials said the cargo Dragon will deliver a variety of investigations to the space station, including a protein crystal growth study that could improve the delivery of cancer treatment drugs; a handheld bioprinter that will test technology that could one day be used to print tissue directly on wounds to accelerate healing; experiments from students at several universities as part of the Student Payload Opportunity with Citizen Science (SPOCS) program; and an investigation from the makers of Tide that examines detergent efficacy in microgravity.

READ: SpaceXs Musk: 1st Starship test flight to orbit in January

Its unclear what extra holiday goodies the spacecraft may deliver, but some gingerbread astronauts and micro-gravity friendly eggnog would be a nice start.

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Tis the season: SpaceX set for holiday season delivery to International Space Station - WSB Atlanta

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The Tiangong space station was seen flying across the sky in China. Similar to the ISS, it can be spotted with the naked eye. However, due to its smaller size, it is

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PASSING BY | Space Station Flies Over China | RT News - Oakland News Now

On Nov 15, 2021, Russia destroyed one of its own old satellites using a missile launched from the surface of the Earth, creating a massive debris cloud that threatens many space assets, including astronauts onboard the International Space Station. This happened only two weeks after the United Nations General Assembly First Committee formally recognized the vital role that space and space assets play in international efforts to better the human experience and the risks military activities in space pose to those goals.

The U.N. First Committee deals with disarmament, global challenges and threats to peace that affect the international community. On Nov. 1, it approved a resolution that creates an open-ended working group. The goals of the group are to assess current and future threats to space operations, determine when behavior may be considered irresponsible, make recommendations on possible norms, rules and principles of responsible behaviors, and contribute to the negotiation of legally binding instruments including a treaty to prevent an arms race in space.

We are two space policy experts with specialties in space law and the business of commercial space. We are also the president and vice president at the National Space Society, a nonprofit space advocacy group. It is refreshing to see the U.N. acknowledge the harsh reality that peace in space remains uncomfortably tenuous. This timely resolution has been approved as activities in space become ever more important and as shown by the Russian test tensions continue to rise.

The 1967 Outer Space Treaty

Outer space is far from a lawless vacuum.

Activities in space are governed by the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which is currently ratified by 111 nations. The treaty was negotiated in the shadow of the Cold War when only two nations the Soviet Union and the U.S. had spacefaring capabilities.

While the Outer Space Treaty offers broad principles to guide the activities of nations, it does not offer detailed rules of the road. Essentially, the treaty assures freedom of exploration and use of space to all humankind. There are just two caveats to this, and multiple gaps immediately present themselves.

The first caveat states that the Moon and other celestial bodies must be used exclusively for peaceful purposes. It omits the rest of space in this blanket prohibition. The only guidance offered in this respect is found in the treatys preamble, which recognizes a common interest in the progress of the exploration and use of space for peaceful purposes. The second caveat says that those conducting activities in space must do so with due regard to the corresponding interests of all other States Parties to the Treaty.

A major problem arises from the fact that the treaty does not offer clear definitions for either peaceful purposes or due regard.

While the Outer Space Treaty does specifically prohibit placing nuclear weapons or weapons of mass destruction anywhere in space, it does not prohibit the use of conventional weapons in space or the use of ground-based weapons against assets in space. Finally, it is also unclear if some weapons like Chinas new nuclear capable partial-orbit hypersonic missile should fall under the treatys ban.

The vague military limitations built into the treaty leave more than enough room for interpretation to result in conflict.

Space is militarized, conflict is possible

Space has been used for military purposes since Germanys first V2 rocket launch in 1942.

Many early satellites, GPS technology, a Soviet Space Station and even NASAs space shuttle were all either explicitly developed for or have been used for military purposes.

With increasing commercialization, the lines between military and civilian uses of space are less blurry. Most people are able to identify terrestrial benefits of satellites like weather forecasts, climate monitoring and internet connectivity but are unaware that they also increase agricultural yields and monitor human rights violations. The rush to develop a new space economy based on activities in and around Earth and the Moon suggests that humanitys economic dependence on space will only increase.

However, satellites that provide terrestrial benefits could or already do serve military functions as well. We are forced to conclude that the lines between military and civilian uses remain sufficiently indistinct to make a potential conflict more likely than not. Growing commercial operations will also provide opportunities for disputes over operational zones to provoke governmental military responses.

Military testing

While there has not yet been any direct military conflict in space, there has been an escalation of efforts by nations to prove their military prowess in and around space. Russias test is only the most recent example. In 2007, China tested an anti-satellite weapon and created an enormous debris cloud that is still causing problems. The International Space Station had to dodge a piece from that Chinese test as recently as Nov. 10, 2021.

Similar demonstrations by the U.S. and India were far less destructive in terms of creating debris, but they were no more welcomed by the international community.

The new U.N. resolution is important because it sets in motion the development of new norms, rules and principles of responsible behavior. Properly executed, this could go a long way toward providing the guardrails needed to prevent conflict in space.

From guidelines to enforcement

The U.N. Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space has been addressing space activities since 1959.

However, the remit of the 95-member committee is to promote international cooperation and study legal problems arising from the exploration of outer space. It lacks any ability to enforce the principles and guidelines set forth in the 1967 Outer Space Treaty or even to compel actors into negotiations.

The U.N. resolution from November 2021 requires the newly created working group to meet two times a year in both 2022 and 2023. While this pace of activity is glacial compared with the speed of commercial space development, it is a major step in global space policy.

Michelle Hanlon is **Professor of Air and Space Law,Universityof Mississippi. Greg Autry is a Clinical Professor of Space Leadership, Policy and Business inthe Thunderbird School of Global Managementand an Affiliate Professor with the Interplanetary Initiativeat **Arizona State University.

The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.

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Space law hasn't been changed since 1967 but U.N. aims to update laws and keep space peaceful - Japan Today

A new Russian docking module arrived safely at the International Space Station today (Nov. 26).

The Prichal module made contact with Russia's new Nauka multipurpose module today at 10:19 a.m. EST (1519 GMT), a few minutes ahead of schedule, over Ukraine. The docking hooks successfully closed at 10:25 a.m. EST (1525 GMT) without incident. The docking was carried live on NASA TV, which beamed stunning views from cameras on the International Space Station.

"It was as flawless a docking as you can have," NASA spokesperson Rob Navias said during the broadcast, in the moments after the docking completed.

Prichal Russian for "pier" brought roughly 2,200 pounds (1,000 kg) of cargo to the ISS along with a substantial expansion in docking capabilities. Prichal features six new ports for the station's Russian segment, five of which are available for arriving ships.

Video: Watch Russia launch the Prichal docking module

Prichal can also transfer fuel to Nauka, a newly arrived science module that is expected to substantially increase Russian orbital research output. Beyond that, Prichal may serve as valuable practice for Russia as the country contemplates its future in the post-ISS era, according to RussianSpaceWeb.com.

State reports from Russia suggest the country may want to create its own space station later in the 2020s, either to be ready in case the aging ISS, parts of which date to 1998, falters or to respond to economic sanctions from the United States.

The U.S. and Russia have been major ISS partners dating back to the early 1990s; the current agreement goes to 2024 but could be extended to 2028 or beyond depending on whether the various partners agree on it.

The 4-ton Prichal rocketed to space on board a Russian-built Soyuz rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Wednesday (Nov. 24). Prichal rode atop a modified Progress cargo spacecraft, which delivered the new module to the orbiting lab.

The spherical module adds roughly 494 cubic feet (14 cubic meters) of internal volume to the ISS, according to RussianSpaceWeb.com. The space station is hosting record-breaking crew sizes these days thanks to the periodic arrival of four people at a time in the roomy SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft. Russian Soyuz vehicles are also still in operation, carrying three spaceflyers at a time.

Prichal will remain permanently docked to Nauka's Earth-facing port, and the other five available docking stations will be available for visiting spacecraft. Prichal will "expand the technical and operational capabilities of the orbital infrastructure of the Russian segment of the ISS," Russia's federal space agency, known as Roscosmos, wrote in a recent update.

The arrival of Prichal was far less eventful than that of Nauka. When the science module reached the ISS on July 29, its thrusters fired in an unexpected way, causing the ISS to rotate about 540 degrees.NASA says the space station crew was not in any danger at the time, although a spacecraft emergency was declared as a precaution.

A spacecraft earlier moved out of the way to make room for Prichal. An uncrewed Progress 78 cargo craft undocked from Nauka on Thursday (Nov. 25) for re-entry in the Earth's atmosphere. The modified Progress spacecraft that delivered Prichal to the station is expected to detach from Prichal in late December for a re-entry over the Pacific Ocean.

Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcomand onFacebook.

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Russia's Prichal docking module arrives at the International Space Station - Space.com

Chinese scientists are currently building a powerful nuclear reactor for their moon and Mars expeditions. Beijing claims its reactor will be 100 times more powerful than the device US space agency NASA wants to set up on the moons surface by 2030.

The new technology is part of a Chinese government-backed project, according to South China Morning Post. The Asian giant has not yet revealed the exact launch date or technical specifications of the new powerful reactor that will produce one megawatt of electric power.

Two of the scientists involved in the project that was launched in 2019, however, acknowledged that the engineering design of the prototype machine is already completed and some critical components were also built.

One of the Chinese space scientists involved in the project said that the most promising solution is nuclear power. Other countries have begun to implement ambitious programs, and China cannot afford to lose this race at any cost.

One Chinese expert claims that to satisfy the objectives of human space exploration, chemical fuel and solar panels will no longer suffice; the hunger for more energy sources is likely to grow dramatically if there are human settlements on the moon or Mars in the future.

SNAP-10A, launched by the United States in 1965, was the first nuclear power device in orbit. Before being permanently shut off, the device produced 500 watts of electric power for nearly a month.

On the other hand, the only nuclear device China has deployed into space is a small radioactive battery on its lunar rover Yutu 2. Only a few watts of heat may be generated by that device to assist the rover through long lunar nights.

Many countries are currently striving to create their supremacy in space. Then-US President Donald Trump had issued an executive order in his final days in office to speed up the use of nuclear power in US civilian and military space programs. He also pointed to space as the next great-power battlefield.

Recently, NASA has issued a request for proposals for the development of a 10-kilowatt nuclear fission device capable of supporting a long-term human presence on the moon within a decade.

The plan is to deploy a fission surface power system by 2026, with a flying system, lander, and reactor in place. The facility will be completely built and integrated on Earth, then thoroughly tested for safety and functionality.

In addition, Russia has also indicated its intention to launch a massive spaceship powered by TEM, a megawatt-sized nuclear reactor, before 2030. The spaceship would be able to function in Earths lower orbit for more than a decade while conducting more missions to the moon or beyond owing to the nuclear energy.

Democritos, a parallel project led by the European Space Agency, will test a 200kW space reactor on the ground by 2023. Additionally, NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg says that the alliance will not put weapons in space, but it will be required to safeguard its assets, which include 2,000 satellites in orbit. Space is becoming an operational domain for NATO as well.

China indicated that the new nuclear space technology is so grandiose that the project may face some difficulties as it approaches its launch date. According to a report published by a project team led by Jiang Jieqiong, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Nuclear Safety Technology in Hefei, cooling technology is one of the biggest challenges for Chinas space reactor.

Only a portion of the heat produced by the reactor would be utilized to generate electricity; the leftover would have to dissipate swiftly in space to avoid a meltdown. To address this, the reactor would employ a foldable umbrella-like structure to enhance the overall surface area of waste heat radiators.

The space reactor would operate at a far higher temperature than those on Earth due to its compact size. It would utilize liquid lithium as a coolant to increase the efficiency of power generation. However, at temperatures below 180 degrees Celsius, the lithium would solidify, posing another challenge for Chinese researchers.

A ground-based power plant requires routine maintenance every few years, and some components must be replaced due to erosion induced by the radioactive surroundings. However, to address the demands of long-term space missions, materials and hardware in a space reactor must achieve a far higher level.

One more approach China is taking is rather than establishing a single large reactor, many research teams in China developed devices with lower power output. These small modules were easier to construct and could be combined to make a larger machine capable of producing several megawatts of electricity, enough to power massive ion thrusters and take astronauts to Mars.

However, the Chinese space authorities have not yet made up their minds about how they will proceed. Its possible that the solution will be a mix of technologies.

The launch of the main module for Chinas newest orbiting space station in April attracted more international attention than intended for all the wrong reasons. The primary rocket booster plunged ominously down to Earth after reaching space, in what is known as an uncontrolled re-entry.

The debris splashed in the Indian Ocean in May, barely avoiding the Maldives and prompting criticism of Chinas largest rocket, the Long March 5B, launch procedures.

Chinas first two space stations were prototypes that only lasted a few months, but the next one is expected to last a decade or more. President Xi linked it to Mao Zedongs call for two bombs, one satellite, which refers to Chinas race to produce a nuclear weapon, equip it on an intercontinental ballistic missile, and launch a satellite into orbit. It is being hailed as proof of Chinas prowess in space, as are all of the Communist Partys triumphs.

The International Space Station, which was jointly built by the US, Russia, and others, is approaching the end of its planned life in 2024.

Russia has stated that it will leave by 2025 and plans to launch its own space station by 2030. If the station is shut down, China may be the only nation in the world for a while to operate a space station.

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100 Times More Powerful Than US Tech, China Claims Its Nuclear Reactor For Space Missions Will Outdo NASA Device - EurAsian Times

There has been a continuous presence of humans in space since 2000, when the International Space Station became operational.

Now, as the floating laboratory gets closer to its inevitable retirement, there are questions around what would replace it.

Private companies are looking to commercialise low Earth orbit, with space stations that would welcome tourists, researchers and astronauts.

Meanwhile, government space agencies have increased their focus on the Moon, with Nasa, China and Russia looking to build a lunar base.

The National highlights some of the space stations that were announced by private companies and governments.

In October, Jeff Bezos Blue Origin announced plans to build a private space station in Earth orbit, called Orbital Reef.

The space tourism company hopes to build a mixed-use business park and is promising access to media, tourists, astronauts and researchers.

It is going to be a commercially developed, owned and operated low-Earth orbit station, built in partnership with Boeing, Redwire Space, Sierra Space, Genesis Engineering Solutions and Arizona State University.

For over sixty years, Nasa and other space agencies have developed orbital space flight and space habitation, setting us up for commercial business to take off in this decade, Brent Sherwood from Blue Origin said at the time of the announcement.

We will expand access, lower the cost, and provide all the services and amenities needed to normalise space flight. A vibrant business ecosystem will grow in low Earth orbit, generating new discoveries, new products, new entertainments, and global awareness.

The plan is to begin operations within this decade, after launching a power system, core module, life habitat and a science module. This would enable the station to host up to 10 people, initially.

Genesis Engineering Solution, an aerospace and technology provider, would supply single-person spacecraft on the station, allowing those on board to go on spacewalks.

Less than a week before the Orbital Reef announcement, Nanoracks had unveiled plans of a commercial space station that would aid efforts in scientific research and tourism.

Founded in 2009, Nanoracks is a commercial space company that has sent more than 1,300 research payloads and small satellites to the ISS.

Now, it has gone into partnership with Voyager Space, a company into space exploration, and aerospace firm Lockheed Martin to build its first free-flying space station, called Starlab.

It would include a large inflatable habitat, designed and built by Lockheed Martin, a metallic docking node, a power and propulsion element, a robotic arm for servicing cargo and payloads, a laboratory to host research, science and manufacturing capabilities.

Up to four astronauts would be able to occupy the station. The company hopes to begin operations by 2027.

Space infrastructure company Axiom is planning to launch a commercial module to the ISS that would become its own independent station once the ISS retires.

The station will offer access to researchers, astronauts and tourists. By 2028, the Axiom modules would be ready to detach from the ISS, allowing microgravity research, manufacturing and life support testing.

The first two modules that will be launched would each have four crew quarters.

Axiom also plans to launch the first paying crew to the ISS next year.

Nasa has ambitious plans to build a station in the Moons orbit.

Called the Lunar Gateway, the station would host astronauts before they land on the lunar surface, using a human landing system.

It is part of the space agencys deep space exploration plans, which includes building a sustainable human presence on the Moon under the Artemis programme, and sending astronauts to Mars from there in future.

Plans for the Gateway includes a Habitation and Logistic Outpost, an initial crew cabin that would offer astronauts basic life support and space to prepare for their trip to the lunar surface.

Nasa chose SpaceX to deliver cargo and other supplies to the station.

Earlier this year, China and Russia unveiled plans to build the International Lunar Research Station.

The proposal involves sending several Chinese and Russian missions to the Moon over a 15-year period.

Rendering of International Lunar Research Station revealed by Chinese and Russian space officials during the third day of the Global Space Exploration Conference in St Petersburg, Russia in June.

Five facilities and nine modules are planned for the station, intended to support long and short missions to the Moon's surface and orbit.

The plan includes a facility that would support round-trip transfer between Earth and the Moon, lunar orbiting, soft landing, take-off on lunar surface and re-entry to Earth.

A long-term support facility on the surface will include a command centre, energy and supply modules, and thermal management.

Designs also include a hopping robot and smart mini-rovers that would move around the surface of the Moon.

The plan is to launch six missions by 2025 during phase one of the stations construction.

It was reported that China is also working on a lander for human Moon missions.

China has astronauts in low Earth orbit who live on Tianhe, the core cabin module of its Tiangong space station.

Updated: November 27th 2021, 4:00 AM

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Five planned space stations for tourists and astronauts - The National