A prototype of Gravitics’ 4-meter-tall space station module design for use in developing manufacturing and assembly methods.
gravity
Axiom is one of several companies working to build private space stations as part of NASA’s plans to retire the International Space Station. Axiom already has modules of its space station built by Italian aerospace contractor Thales Alenia. Gravitex’s order adds another “pressurized spacecraft” that will be attached to Axiom’s station after its planned launch in two years.
The agreement between Axiom and Gravitics, which was founded in 2021, represents the most significant deal yet for the startup. Gravitics has previously raised a total of $20 million in venture funding as it looks to make its mark as a manufacturer of private space stations.
The roughly 50-employee company, based in a suburb north of Seattle, aims to provide space station modules — which are effectively the building blocks of orbital habitats — as a ready-made production line that can be launched on a variety of rockets, both those currently flying like SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and future beasts like Blue Origin’s New Glenn.
The space station modules Gravitics is designing range in diameter from 3 meters (9 feet) to 8 meters (26 feet). The largest module, which the company boasts will have “the largest interior volume of any autonomous spacecraft,” has been dubbed StarMax, a name inspired by SpaceX’s towering Starship rocket.
“We started looking at Starship and said, ‘Someone is going to maximize the payload size,’” Dugan said.
Currently, NASA’s Commercial Destinations for Low Earth Orbit program is handing out development contracts to companies building space stations in anticipation of the deliberate destruction of the International Space Station at the end of the decade. Axiom was the first to win a contract with NASA to build space station modules, and Gravityx will deliver its spacecraft later this decade.
But the deal with Gravityx is not exclusive, according to Dugan.
We hope to be in multiple teams for [second phase of CLD]Not as my boss [bidder] Because we don’t care about the processes at all… but I expect that you will start to see some architecture that reflects some of the [of our space station modules] “These elements have been incorporated into some of these designs going forward,” Dugan said.
Gravitics is working on prototypes as well as testing key components, such as a test launch of the propulsion system and prototypes of pressure test modules. Dugan said Gravitics will send some of its components to the International Space Station later this year for testing and plans to launch a sub-spacecraft by 2026.
Test firing of the propulsion system at the Gravitics facility in Marysville, Washington.
gravity
“We are a very hardware-rich company, so we are building at the same time we are finalizing the design,” Dugan said.
The company has signed an agreement with NASA on new methods for testing large spacecraft, as well as an early development contract for the Space Force. Dugan said the latest contract represents Gravityx working “with those customers who are ready to buy.”
“The Space Force budget is already ballooning beyond NASA’s budget, and that’s not going to stop,” Dugan added.
The Axiom deal is a catalyst for Gravityx’s growth, Dugan said, as the company plans to double its headcount in the coming months and launch a new round of fundraising.
