Jeff Bezos' Space Station Is Closer To Reality Than You Realize
Jeff Bezos' space station might seem too ambitious, but now that it's making progress, it's starting to become more than a mere pipe dream. The founder of aerospace company Blue Origin has been dabbling with commercialized space travel for a while now. After completing 22 successful space missions, it already managed to bring 31 people — some of whom were the first representatives of their countries — to space, with regular civilians now being able to reserve their own seats on its website as well (via Blue Origin).
In 2021, Bezos upped the ante by teaming up with Sierra Space in building a commercial space station called Orbital Reef. This grandiose project aims to put a "mixed-use business park in space" that caters to anyone from media companies and entrepreneurs to investors and inventors. Doing so opens Orbital Reef to a lot of game-changing uses. However, the scale of this program has larger implications than simply bringing tourists to space, so Bezos is already planning many years ahead to bring it to fruition. The thing is, Bezos is also known for his ostentatious display of wealth, and some might be wondering, how exactly will Orbital Reef be any different?
Making your personal place ... in space
Jeff Bezos' space station will no longer be in the concept phase anymore because NASA has just given it the green light. NASA already considered Blue Origin and Sierra Space among the top candidates to replace the International Space Station, and now, it's putting even more faith in Bezos' bold space station plans. In a press statement, Sierra Space announced that Orbital Reef was successful in NASA's System Definition Review, with it being deemed "feasible and achievable" enough to proceed to the design phase. Sierra Space CEO Tom Vice said this puts it "on the doorstep of the most profound industrial revolution in human history."
Vice explained that Orbital Reef isn't only about space tourism, as its microgravity factories and services "have the potential to revolutionize every industry." With Orbital Reef, the company claims anyone can have a chance to have their very own address in space. When Bezos' space station was first announced, it came with a big ETA window, leading us to believe that it might not be ready until at least 2030. Sierra Space, on the other hand, expects Orbital Reef to already be in operation as soon as 2027. When it does though, let's just hope its final design won't be as questionable as Blue Origin's rockets.