We’re entering the era of private space stations

Lockheed Martin’s Starlab is one of several currently proposed private space stations. The company hopes to have it built by 2027. Credit: Nanoracks The era of the International Space Station (ISS) is coming to a close. In the near future, NASA plans to bring down the station in a controlled deorbit. The end of the ISS will leave a large gap in human spaceflight, although the Chinese Tiangong space station is currently active. Still, to make a space pun, nature abhors a vacuum. Multiple companies are actively working on creating the next generation of crewed space stations to maintain a human presence in space. Of critical importance, these will be privately owned and operated by a variety of commercial entities More

(Source: Astronomy Magazine - Nov 8)