The next low-Earth orbit (LEO) destination may not be a space station, but one of the world's largest spacecraft that has been repurposed to lock in the planet's orbit and serve as a hub for knowledge and information. SpaceX's Starship is best known to be a large spacecraft that promises to bring humans to the Moon or Mars and back, but it may have more to give soon.
This is alongside the previous confirmation that the International Space Station's (ISS) upcoming decommissioning come in the next decade.
SpaceX Starship to be the Next Space Station, LEO Destination
(Photo : SpaceX via Twitter)
NASA's Collaborations for Commerical Space Capabilities (CCSC) announced last month that SpaceX's Starship is a part of its program for its plans on developing it to be the next space station.
As a space station, the Starship would not be going anywhere, as it would stay locked in on the low-Earth orbit for different missions to come and go.
This would also be a part of SpaceX's plans to turn the Starship that is locked in orbit to be the next LEO destination as part of its plans for commercial space activities for the public.
SpaceX's plans for the Starship are different from the other ventures from the likes of Blue Origin, Nanoracks, and Northrop Grumman each has its plans to build the next space station, says Ars Technica.
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NASA Providing Technical Support to SpaceX
In this CCSC initiative from NASA, it will provide technical and expert support to SpaceX in its plans to repurpose the Starship into the next space station. This also means that SpaceX would not get monetary support from NASA, as this is out of the budgeting from the space agency's allocations for commercial space projects.
SpaceX's Starship Developments
SpaceX is one of the most successful but also ambitious companies in the world that have massive stakes in the space industry's expansion. The company is currently developing the Starship for its future flight, with plans of making as many as 1,000 Starships in the future for multiple flights to bring humans to other surfaces commercially, like the Moon and Mars.
For now, the company is back to its Boca Chica facilities to improve and fix the current problems of the Starship, especially as it exploded in its initial fully-stacked test in April.
Despite the many roadblocks to its massive plans, SpaceX is still looking to complete its Starship for future missions, and other plans for the spacecraft.
Apart from its significant plans to bring humanity to Mars and other deep space ventures, SpaceX is also a contender in bringing an upcoming space station that will continue what the current brings. With NASA's support for the company, there would be massive developments in the future, alongside the different developments for the future of space studies in orbit.
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