One of our greatest strengths resides in the fact that we are well-equipped to control our own reality. It’s not to say that we have always had the mediums to achieve all our objectives, but to a larger extent, we have displayed a knack of finding a way, at least for the time being. This particular human skill also comes in handy when a genuine medium to shape our future does arrive on the block. Suddenly, you have a prolific mix of pure skill and resilience that you can use to reach the goal you had in sight, and if the mix in question happens to be technology, then you can very well go for an expansive range of goals. Now, even though the whole technology concept is pretty much built on the said elements of skill and resilience, it has morphed into many permutations over the years in its bid to be more accommodating of human aspirations. These aspirations, in turn, have only increased alongside our capabilities to fulfill them. One such aspiration of ours that technology managed to fulfill had a lot to do with space exploration. Space exploration is certainly up there with some of our biggest obsessions as a society. After being there and back a few times, our goal now talks more to expanding what we can do in those surroundings, and Jeff Bezos-owned Blue Origin is set to take a big step towards making it happen.
Blue Origin has recently proposed the idea of a new commercial space station that will be designed for the purpose of hosting scientific experiments, vacation getaways, and in-space manufacturing. Named as “Orbital Reef”, the project will see Blue Origin teaming up with Sierra Space, whereas aviation-giant, Boeing is also reported to be on onboard to construct a research module on the station. As if that line-up wasn’t enough, there is also a strong intention to get NASA into the picture.
From what is shared by the companies so far, the Orbital Reef would be able to house upto 10 people at once. Interestingly, it’s claimed that the space station will replicate the internal volume of International Space Station, which is now closing in on the end of its lifespan. With ISS bowing out soon, Orbital Reef has the opportunity to establish itself as its rightful replacement. To bolster up the efforts, Blue Origin is also involving many other space businesses. For instance, Genesis is developing vacuum sealed pods that are going to eliminate any need for astronauts to wear spacesuits during their spacewalks. Elsewhere, a company called Redwire is striving to facilitate in-space manufacturing through a take driven by 3D printing. The idea here is to produce space-related products in that environment only, instead of going through the all-consuming process of making them on Earth and then launching them into space.