CLDP Teams Approach Halftime in Race to Replace the ISS
As the players in NASA’s International Space Station (ISS) transition program approach the second half of their Commercial LEO Destinations Program (CLDP) plans, one of the first-round draft picks just got traded to another team.
Northrop Grumman announced on Oct. 4 that it’s sidelining efforts to develop its own commercial space station and instead will be joining Voyager Space’s Starlab consortium.
Too many acronyms; just break it down
NASA hatched its half-billion-dollar CLDP initiative in 2021 to inspire replacement ideas for the retiring ISS. The goal is to deorbit the station by 2030 and flip the international partnership of space agencies managing the station to a commercially operated venture. Northrop was among four commercial players initially chosen by NASA to advance space station concepts that would eventually count NASA as a customer. Now, Northrop will instead leverage its $125.6M CLDP contract to provide cargo resupply services to the Starlab space station designed by Voyager Space.
You’d expect a deeper bench with a program of this importance. There are only four(ish) teams. But the lineup is stacked. And the Starlab collab just got stronger with the Northrop jump.
The current ISS successor roster:
1. Starlab
• Initially funded by a $160M award and a Space Act Agreement from NASA.
• Team Starlab is led by Voyager Space, Nanoracks (majority-owned by Voyager Space), Airbus (which superseded Lockheed Martin due to a Starlab module design change), Northrop Grumman, and Zin Technologies (acquired by Voyager Space).
• Starlab is planning a single launch in 2028 (and will most likely be dependent upon Starship due to its size).
• It could be a 5-Starlab, as Hilton is designing the suites on this four-astronaut space station.
2. Orbital Reef
• Initially funded by a $130M award and Space Act Agreement from NASA.
• Team Orbital Reef is led by Blue Origin, Sierra Space, Redwire, Boeing, Amazon, and Genesis Engineering Solutions.
• Sierra Space – which will provide the Large Integrated Flexible Environment (LIFE) modules and Dream Chaser spaceplane for Orbital Reef’s crew and cargo – just raised $300M in September. The company is now valued at ~$5.3B.
• The 10-astronaut “mixed-use business park” is largely dependent upon the operation of Blue’s New Glenn launch system, as Starship is most likely not a realistic option considering the Musk-Bezos dynamic, and SLS would have to be heavily subsidized by NASA to be economically feasible.
• Like a celebrity couple ducking divorce rumors, Blue Origin and Sierra Space took to Twitter X this month to affirm their commitment to the Orbital Reef project (planned operational date: 2027).
3. AxStation
• While Axiom Space did not submit a CLDP proposal, the company won a $140M NASA contract in 2020 to attach a habitable module to the ISS that will launch in 2026 and serve as a precursor to its AxStation space station.
• Thales Alenia Space is building the primary structures for Axiom’s modules (2024-2027) and eventual space station (2028).
• Axiom closed a $350M funding round in August and is estimated to be valued at >$1B, which might be why the company is now bringing Prada and Philippe Starck onto the payroll.
4. Vast Haven
• Funded primarily by its crypto billionaire founder, Jed McCaleb, Vast emerged from stealth in 2022 with plans to launch its first artificial-gravity space station Haven (NET 2025) on a SpaceX Falcon 9, followed by a Crew Dragon mission called Vast-1.
• Vast’s long-term plans center on a large, spinning space station launched on SpaceX’s Starship.
Much like legendary QB Tom Brady, the ISS has had an impressive run. But it is well past its prime. It’s time for its successors in the private sector to pen a new playbook that shows the world how cutting-edge science, research, and innovation can co-exist in a microgravity environment with profit. And Prada.
SOURCE: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/voyager-space-announces-teaming-agreement-with-northrop-grumman-for-the-starlab-space-station-301947600.html