{"id":19340,"date":"2016-06-22T17:57:50","date_gmt":"2016-06-22T09:57:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/former-nasa-space-station-manager-makes-plans-for-commercial-outpost\/"},"modified":"2016-06-22T17:57:50","modified_gmt":"2016-06-22T09:57:50","slug":"former-nasa-space-station-manager-makes-plans-for-commercial-outpost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/former-nasa-space-station-manager-makes-plans-for-commercial-outpost\/","title":{"rendered":"Former NASA space station manager makes plans for commercial outpost"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Space
An artist\u2019s conception shows the potential configuration for a commercial space station. (Credit: Axiom Space via YouTube)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Former space station manager Mike Suffredini says he\u2019s working on a plan to send up a commercial space module that could be attached to the International Space Station \u2013 and then disattached to become the foundation for a private-sector outpost in orbit.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe intend to work on a low-Earth-orbit platform to follow the International Space Station,\u201d Suffredini said today at the Space Frontier Foundation\u2019s NewSpace 2016 conference in Seattle.<\/p>\n

Representatives of the new venture, called Axiom Space, are in contact with NASA about the idea, but Suffredini stressed that he\u2019s staying at arm\u2019s length to comply with the space agency\u2019s conflict-of-interest requirements.<\/p>\n

\"Mike
Mike Suffredini was NASA\u2019s space station program manager from 2005 to 2015. (Credit: Robert Markowitz \/ NASA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Suffredini left NASA last September and is now Axiom\u2019s president as well as the president of Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies\u2018 commercial space division. Axiom is currently structured as an SGT subsidiary, with SGT co-founder Kam Ghaffarian serving as Axiom\u2019s CEO, Suffredini said.<\/p>\n

Axiom already has seed funding, Suffredini said. If NASA gives the go-ahead, the venture would raise additional money from investors to finance the construction of the module and get it launched to the station in the 2020-2021 time frame.<\/p>\n

The venture is on a tight schedule because NASA and its international partners are currently planning to operate the ISS only through 2024, Suffredini told reporters. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be really hard to make a buck if it ends in \u201924,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Axiom Space joins at least a couple of other companies that are looking into creating commercial orbital outposts. The others include Bigelow Aerospace, which built the expandable BEAM module that was recently attached to the ISS; and NanoRacks, which recently reached agreement with NASA on a plan to look into repurposing commercial cargo vehicles and building a commercial air lock for the ISS.<\/p>\n

NanoRacks is already managing the logistics for some of the shipments to the ISS, particularly for racks of experiments. NanoRacks\u2019 managing director, Jeffrey Manber, said he was surprised when he heard about Suffredini\u2019s plans.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe became a strong ally of commercialization, and I thought this was pretty good, until one day he says, \u2018You know, I\u2019m going out in the world, and I may just compete against you.\u2019 So be very careful what you preach to the government officials,\u201d Manber joked.<\/p>\n