Blue Origin to Build a Commercial Space Station by 2030

Blue Origin teamed up with Sierra Space to launch its own private space station in the second half of this decade.

The station called Orbital Reef will be almost the same size as the International Space Station. It will be located in low Earth orbit and is aimed to provide research, industrial, international and commercial customers with appropriate services in space, such as space transportation and logistics, as well as the equipment and crew accommodation, etc.

Orbital Reef will be operating as a "mixed use business park" in space, providing a common infrastructure for tenants who can use it for their own purposes. The commercial station will have a human-centered architecture: module berths and utilities will allow the station to be used by as many customers as possible.

Blue Origin also said that the project is supported by other industry leaders, including Boeing, Redwire Space, Genesis Engineering Solutions, and Arizona State University. For example, Boeing will be responsible for the science module, station operations, maintenance engineering, and the crew of the Starliner spacecraft. Arizona State University will lead a global consortium of universities that will provide research advisory services and work with the public.