Progress On Orbital Reef’s Future Station Segments
There are a lot of different components and things to consider when working to create a space station of the future. At the same time, even with current rockets it still costs an immense amount of money to launch significant amounts of cargo into low Earth orbit. Sierra Space is one company working to reinvent this process for future projects such as Orbital Reef.
Just yesterday the company provided an update regarding its LIFE Habitat. LIFE stands for Large Integrated Flexible Environment, and this habitat is meant to launch on a conventional rocket and inflate on-orbit into a large structure that is three stories tall, and 27 feet in diameter. They just announced a test model successfully completed its first Ultimate Burst Pressure test.
This is a good first step and sign for the future of this habitat and Orbital Reef. Specifically, the LIFE habitat will serve as both a habitation and a payload element for the Orbital Reef commercial space station. Not to mention, if successful, could change how we work and live in space. Here I will go more in-depth into yesterday’s announcement and test, the LIFE Habitat itself, its impact on Orbital Reef, and more.
Explosive Test
Space is a very unforgiving environment with a lot of threats to habitats and the humans living within them. For this reason among others, space equipment and especially living quarters go through constant testing. Recently, Sierra Space completed a significant initial test of its LIFE Habitat module. Yesterday the company tweeted saying, “LIFE Habitat has successfully completed its first Ultimate Burst Pressure test. The test was performed at @NASA_Johnson and is the first of two sub-scale burst tests scheduled for 2022.” Thankfully, Sierra Space gathered quite a bit of footage of this test and the explosion itself which they included. In addition, NASA also tweeted saying, “When #Artemis astronauts start living on the moon, inflatable habitats could be their home. Sierra Space recently conducted a successful burst pressure test on one of its prototype habitats at NASA Johnson under the NEXTSTEP-2 Habitat Systems contract managed by Marshall.”
Specifically, on September 13th, Sierra Space announced the recent completion of its first successful Ultimate Burst Pressure (UBP) test for the Large Inflatable Flexible Environment habitat. The test was sponsored by Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships-2 Appendix A Habitat Systems project, which is managed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, and was performed at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. NASA softgoods subject matter experts and ILC Dover collaborated on the test. The test, which is the first of two sub-scale burst tests scheduled for this year in support of Sierra Space’s softgoods certification, used a one-third scale of Sierra Space’s LIFE inflatable habitat. The company considered the test a big success considering the habitat burst at 192 psi – exceeding the safety requirement of 182.4 psi. As a result, this stress test is among the highest publicly released data points for a softgoods UBP test at any scale. Sierra Space will plan the next sub-scale test for later this year.
The SVP and GM of Space Destinations pointed out, “The LIFE habitat is one of the most innovative products designed and developed by Sierra Space and is essential for enabling humans to safely and comfortably begin to develop new civilizations in space. The product has many applications in low-Earth orbit and for deep-space and surface habitation on the moon and Mars. LIFE will revolutionize humans’ ability to commercialize and explore space and we could not be prouder to achieve this important milestone. Sierra Space is leading the development of advanced inflatable habitat systems and continues to be the leader in softgoods inflatable systems and architectures.”
Sub-scale tests are used to support the overall full system development and to determine the ability of a vehicle to withstand the maximum internal pressure required to cause failure of the vehicle’s pressure shell, commonly known as the restraint layer. Among other missions in coming years, LIFE habitat will serve as both a habitation and a payload element for the Orbital Reef commercial space station, a collaboration between Sierra Space and Blue Origin.
One of the most common questions regarding this habitat is its ability to withstand different threats including space debris, radiation, asteroids, and more. Sierra Space points out that the LIFE habitat has a woven structural layer (pressure shell), called the restraint layer, which is strong enough to withstand the internal pressure required for the crew to live and work. It is protected by an MMOD multi-layer soft-goods shield that guards the habitat against space debris such as micrometeoroids. The layers of fabric, plus the internal outfitting, create ample safeguards against radiation.
LIFE Habitat Overview
Now that we know more about some of the recent testing this equipment went through, we can take a closer look at some of its applications and how exactly it works. In terms of size, the LIFE habitat is 27 feet in diameter and 27 feet long, and has a pressurized volume of 300 cubic meters. To put that in perspective, it’s about 1/3 of the pressurized volume on the International Space Station. In addition, The LIFE habitat is specifically designed to launch on commercial launch vehicles with a 5m fairing, providing multiple, low-cost launch options. It can also launch on the Space Launch System since it expands only after it is on-orbit, making it easier and less expensive to transport. Its size combined with the fact that a host of launch vehicle can fit it within their fairings, means the LIFE Habitat could be used for a host of different space missions.
One of the most common examples is Orbital Reef. Since this is a project between Blue Origin and Sierra Space, the company working on the LIFE Habitat, it’s expected to play an important role in the future station. Designed for use cases and ideas never before possible, Orbital Reef is trying to unlock LEO by reducing cost and complexity for new kinds of customers. They provide end-to-end services, standard interfaces, and technical support needed by space flight novices: planning, payload development, training, transportation, data analysis, and security for your people or payloads. Specifically, on the Orbital Reef business park, shared infrastructure supports the proprietary needs of diverse tenants and visitors. This business model – traditional on Earth but unprecedented in space – is meant to lower barriers for all customers and promote competitive development of space applications. The Baseline Configuration has separate science and habitation zones and supports 10 people in 830 m3 of volume – almost as much as the ISS – in big modules with big windows. Through various graphics and animations, you can see the use of the LIFE Habitat modules and the impact they would have. In reality, they are expected to provide a good majority of the space within the station. This means that progress on the LIFE Habitat is a step in the right direction for Orbital Reef. This being said, they still have a long way to go prior to creating a commercial space station.
In addition to Orbital Reef, the NASA tweet provided earlier highlights other possible uses for the habitat. Specifically, the Moon, Mars, and beyond. What’s so appealing about the LIFE module is its ability to be deployed in space, significantly reducing its size during the launch process. A big problem when trying to construct a large habitat or station in low Earth orbit or beyond. In order for this to be possible, the LIFE Habitat uses multiple layers. Its constructed of several soft goods layers including, but not limited to: the inner layer, called the bladder, made of urethane and is designed to keep the air inside the habitat without leaking. The pressure shell layer, known as the restraint layer, is a Vectran fabric weave that is strong enough to withstand the internal pressure needed for the crew to live & work comfortably in space. It is stronger than steel. The outer layers consist of Micro Meteoroid Orbital Debris (MMOD) and Multi-Layer Insulation (MLI) which provide orbital debris and thermal protection. In terms of life support, all of the air and water required to survive in space is delivered by logistics carriers to the habitat, where it is then stored until needed. The LIFE habitat has life support systems that regulate the air to maintain proper pressure, temperature, humidity, and oxygen levels. These life support systems recycle some of the air and water that is used to reduce the amount that has to be delivered to the habitat. All of which comes back to the recent successful test completed by Sierra Space.
Conclusion
While many projects within the space industry are focusing on how to access space, some are working to create places to visit and live within space. Sierra Space recently completed a successful Ultimate Burst Pressure test of a smaller LIFE Habitat test article. This is a step in the right direction and important progress for future projects like Orbital Reef. We will have to wait and see how it progresses and the impact it has on the space industry.