Exploring Potential Use Of Expandable Space Station On Moon

Sierra Space, a Colorado-based commercial space and defense company developing expandable space station, announced it has secured a significant contract from NASA to explore using its technology to develop new solutions for lunar surface logistics and mobility as part of the agency’s Moon to Mars initiative.

The contract is under the NExtSTEP-2 for Lunar Logistics and Mobility Studies and puts Sierra Space in a good position to gain future awards including logistics transfer, staging, storage, tracking, trash management, and integrated strategies.

The deal also includes the potential use of Sierra Space’s inflatable LIFE habitat technology for storing materials as well as integrating the entire framework into a habitat on the lunar surface.

Dr. Tom Marshburn, Chief Astronaut and Vice President of Human Factors Engineering at Sierra Space said, “We believe our expandable softgoods space station technology can thrive in low-Earth orbit for commercial uses and for deep space exploration with NASA.

“Sierra Space is able to leverage existing technologies to deliver robust and scalable solutions that support both near-term and long-term mission objectives on the moon. We’ve developed a versatile technology with our expandable habitation products that we feel supports NASA’s moon to Mars goals.”

Sierra Space has a decided advantage due to its involvement in the analysis and design work it has already done for lunar landers, rovers, habitats, as well as human landing systems, lunar terrain vehicles, and pressurized rovers. All of those are particularly relevant for the design of an architecture for sustained lunar surface habitation.

FMI:  www.sierraspace.com/