NASA has finally told private space station builders what it wants to buy after the International Space Station retires, and the answer appears to be: a lot of oversight, with the price tag still fuzzy.
The agency this week released a draft request for proposals for the second phase of its Commercial Low Earth Orbit Destinations program. That document matters because NASA has said publicly that the ISS is due to end operations in 2030, although Ars Technica reported that a two-year extension is likely. NASA and Congress have both said they want the United States to avoid losing continuous human access to low Earth orbit.
That deadline is not leisurely. Designing, qualifying, launching and operating a crewed orbital outpost is not the kind of thing a company can squeeze in after a good quarterly planning meeting.
Years of waiting, then a draft
NASA began laying the commercial-station groundwork nearly five years ago, awarding early development funding to three companies for station concepts. The agency had previously given Axiom Space $140 million. Those Space Act Agreements were supposed to lead into a larger second phase, in which one or two companies would receive more money to move toward actual construction and launch.
That next phase slipped, partly because Congress delayed funding decisions. About a year ago, then-interim NASA administrator Sean Duffy issued a directive that signaled a budget-driven change in the program’s rules, according to Ars Technica. That plan did not hold. In March, NASA floated another idea: building a government-provided “core module” that private stations could dock with.
Companies generally disliked that approach because several competitors are pursuing free-flying stations, independent of the ISS. NASA has now dropped the core-module concept.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said in a NASA release that the agency’s review reflects industry feedback that companies can meet the schedule and that a commercial market can exist with NASA as one customer among others. He said NASA is trying to support the transition while preserving a U.S. human presence in low Earth orbit.
Industry relief comes with fine print
The leading companies in the field include Axiom Space, Vast Space, Voyager, Blue Origin and possibly SpaceX. Ars Technica reported, based on background conversations with half a dozen company officials, that industry reaction is split between relief and concern.
The relief is straightforward: NASA is no longer proposing a government-owned hub that would put Johnson Space Center, the ISS operations center, back in the middle of station operations.
The concern is in the draft’s requirements. NASA requirements are not decorative paperwork. They define what the agency considers acceptable for crew safety, data, certification, operations and design. Fewer requirements give contractors more room to build their own systems. More requirements give NASA engineers more control.
Several companies were surprised by the volume, Ars reported. One participant estimated the draft contains more than 3,000 requirements, while companies had expected hundreds. One provision in the 246-page contract data requirements list appears to require NASA’s chief information officer to approve all software purchases by a company.
Phil McAlister, NASA’s former commercial spaceflight chief and the person who created the private station program, told Ars the draft has “all the requirements, deliverables, and clauses of a cost-plus contract” placed inside a firm-fixed-price structure. He said that might work if NASA were prepared to pay for that level of control, but added that NASA does not appear ready to do so.
The budget remains a central unknown. Ars reported that NASA funding could reach $1.5 billion over five years, or come in substantially lower. Two winners could make that funding workable. Three or more awards could spread it thin.
NASA will take industry feedback on the draft before issuing a final request, which could arrive in September. Companies would then bid, with awards possible next spring. The schedule leaves little room for bureaucratic cosplay.
This story draws on original reporting from Ars Technica.
