Blue Origin is one of several firms working with NASA to design commercial space stations that could one day take over from the aging International Space Station (ISS). After some reports of internal strife around the project, there's some good news for the project. Blue Origin's Orbital Reef concept has passed a major milestone. NASA says Blue Origin has successfully tested the life support system that will keep astronauts and space tourists alive while on the station. As you can imagine, NASA considers that to be pretty important.
NASA draws parallels between the new Orbital Reef system and the one operating on the International Space Station. Like the ISS, Orbital Reef's critical life support system will clean the air and water, ensuring astronauts have potable water and breathable air. The regenerative system needs to be able to reclaim almost all the air and water from human activities to reduce the mass that resupply missions need to deliver.
This milestone saw the station's life support pass four critical tests. NASA reports the tests related to different aspects of the system, including trace contaminant control, water contaminant oxidation, urine water recovery, and water tank storage. The trace contaminant control test showed that Orbital Reef could filter potentially hazardous impurities from the air. The water recovery, urine reclamation, and water tank tests all focused on making the most of the station's supply of water.
A recent report claimed that Blue Origin and partner Sierra Space were considering calling it quits before they even started construction of Orbital Reef. Blue Origin moved staff away from the space station program to work on satellites and lunar landing hardware. Founder Jeff Bezos is reportedly pushing the new CEO, longtime Amazon exec Dave Limp, to focus on the company's lunar contracts. Still, work on Orbital Reef is still moving forward.
NASA has pledged $500 million for its Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development Program, which aims to foster the deployment of privately operated stations. The ISS is currently scheduled to cease operations in 2030, and the agency wants to ensure there are still suitable facilities near Earth where astronauts can go to conduct important microgravity experiments. Blue Origin is not the only firm working with NASA on this project. Axiom Space, Starlab Space, and others are also working on the program.
These projects are currently in the design and development phase. This will be followed by an expansion of NASA's funding for one or more projects in 2026. That would give firms just a few years to begin deploying a station to replace the ISS in the early 2030s.
