Re:Crew Dragon Docks with ISS
by the_duke on Sunday May 31, 2020 @12:11PM
(#23370463)
China plans to launch the first part of their own space station next year. [1]
They actually wanted to join the ISS effort, but were given a firm no and had no other option than to do pursue their own. [2]
I don't think we will see any other country-specific stations for a long time, but modular commercial stations that can be shared for research and potential business endeavors (hotels, specialized manufacturing, ...).
If efforts like SpaceX Starship actually succeed in very significantly lowering launch costs, that is. Right now it is simply not affordable either for nations or businesses. A single Starship would actually be a great temporary space station on it's own, comparable to the ISS in usable area.
They actually wanted to join the ISS effort, but were given a firm no and had no other option than to do pursue their own. [2]
I don't think we will see any other country-specific stations for a long time, but modular commercial stations that can be shared for research and potential business endeavors (hotels, specialized manufacturing, ...).
If efforts like SpaceX Starship actually succeed in very significantly lowering launch costs, that is. Right now it is simply not affordable either for nations or businesses. A single Starship would actually be a great temporary space station on it's own, comparable to the ISS in usable area.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_large_modular_space_st...
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_the_International_...