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Updated April 5th, 2022 at 22:37 IST

Blue Origin's Orbital Reef passes design review; receives green flag for development

The Orbital Reef space station, being developed by Blue Origin and 4 others, has cleared the design review thus receiving a 'go' for further development.

Reported by: Harsh Vardhan
Orbital Reef
Image: Twitter/@SierraSpaceCo | Image:self
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Achieving a major milestone, the upcoming commercial space station Orbital Reef has passed the design review and is now 'go' for further development. Being developed by lead partners Blue Origin and Sierra Space, the Orbital Reef completed its Systems Requirements Review (SRR) which was conducted to ensure the developmental requirements before proceeding further. Other companies involved in the development are Boeing, Redwire Space and Genesis Engineering which were selected by NASA in December 2021 under the Commercial Low-Earth Orbit Development (CLDP) program.

The review was also conducted to test Orbital Reef’s ability to meet safety and mission requirements. Evaluation of technical readiness of the design, concept of operations, the feasibility of project development plans, and planned verification activities was also carried out.

The Orbital Reef is being touted as the first commercially developed, owned, and operated space station that would replace the International Space Station (ISS) after its potential launch by 2025. Tom Vice, CEO of Sierra Space said in a company statement, "At Sierra Space, we are building a platform in Space to benefit life on Earth, and forming a catalyst for disruptive technological breakthroughs and innovations that will shape the world of tomorrow. It is clear that having achieved this key program milestone - and the maturity of the system we are building with Blue Origin - that we are a step closer to realizing that vision."

Purpose of the Orbital Reef space station

Apart from replacing the ISS after its retirement, the Orbital Reef would also serve as the new platform to promote scientific research in space. Developers of the habitat say that it would also offer research, industrial, international, and commercial customers relatively cheaper services along with space transportation, space habitation, equipment accommodation, and operations including onboard crew. Apart from the $130 million awarded to Orbital Reef, NASA had granted $160 million to Nanorocks and Lockheed Martin for their Starlab space station and $125.6 million to Northrop Grumman for another commercial space station. 

In addition to the Orbital Reef, Sierra Space is currently also working on its Large Integrated Flexible Environment (LIFE) habitat which is a modular, three-story commercial habitation and science platform. Besides, the company is also developing a spacecraft named Dream Chaser for cargo transportation to and from Earth into space. 

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Published April 5th, 2022 at 22:37 IST

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