spacetoday.net: Axiom Space revises plan for commercial space station

Posted: Sat, Dec 21, 2024, 11:54 AM ET (1654 GMT)
Axiom Space is revising is plans to assemble a commercial space station. The company announced Wednesday a revised sequence of modules for Axiom Station, which will now start with a Payloads Power Thermal Module (PPTM) that will be berthed to the International Space Station as soon as 2027. The PPTM will later unberth and dock with a habitat module, forming the core of a free-flying station that will be augmented by other modules. The company originally planned to start with a sequence of habitat and research modules docked to the ISS. The change, the company said, avoids any conflicts over access to the docking port on the ISS it originally planned to use and which NASA wants to reserve for the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle. The change also enables Axiom to operate a free-flying station with just the PPTM and a habitat module as soon as 2028.