Axiom Space shares picture of world's 1st private space station taking shape in Italy

Axiom Space is one of the many players that are aiming to commercialise the low-Earth orbit (LEO) by launching their own space stations. In 2024, the company has planned to launch the first module of its space station making it the world's first commercial habitat in the LEO. Earlier today, Axiom Space shared a picture of the module which is being assembled at its partner, Thales Alenia Space's facility in Italy's Turin. 

(First module of Axiom Station being assembled at Thales Alenia Space facility; Image: Twitter/@ThalesAleniaSpace)

Under this partnership, Thales Alenia Space will provide two pressurised modules for the space station which is expected to meet its completion in 2028. According to Axiom Space, the first pieces of fabricated flight hardware are beginning to come together and the assembled module will be shipped to Houston in early 2023. Following the shipment, the final assembly and integration process will start for a late 2024 launch.

(Axiom Space habitat's interior; Image: Axiom Space)

Axiom Space's plan for launching world's first commercial space station

The first module named the Axiom Hub (AxH1) to be launched in 2024 will be the nucleus of the space station with living quarters for four crew members and volume to accommodate research and manufacturing applications. This main module will have four radial ports for the addition of future modules and docking of visiting vehicles. 

The second module, AxH2, will be launched in 2025 and it would also have a capacity for crew members, taking the total capacity to eight. It will be followed by the Axiom Lab (AxL) module in 2026 and would provide a larger volume for research and scalable manufacturing opportunities. The next year, Axiom will launch the Axiom Power Tower (AxPT) which will be attached to the top of the space station and will power it with its massive solar panels. 

"It (the AxPT) expands on Axiom Station's environmental control and life support (ECLSS) capabilities, adds additional storage and payload capability, and provides an airlock to be utilized for EVAs (spacewalks) by astronauts", Axiom Space said in a statement. By 2028, the station will be completed and established as a self-sustaining orbital platform that has pressurized and unpressurized payload capacity comparable to the International Space Station (ISS).