With this project falling behind, and the reducing likelihood of delays in the Lunar Gateway/Artemis program, I think there's a good chance that NASA and the ESA will not have access to a space station following the ISS's decommission. It's not the only "public-private" partnership for an ISS successor, but I don't think the other candidates are making much progress either.

I also thought that this quote was pretty amusing, and highlights the futility of trying to privately fund commercial station projects:

To bring in some much-needed cash, Axiom Space started selling seats for trips to the ISS on board SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft.

It was also awarded a NASA contract to fund a space suit for the first crewed mission to the lunar surface, Artemis III.

But the suit appears to have been a massive distraction — not to mention a major money pit — from its plans to build a space station. SpaceX trips to the existing orbital outpost were also not a sustainable solution to Axiom Space's woes.

"Turns out that there's not a lot of billionaires that want to set aside their life for 18 months to go train to be an astronaut for the ISS," a former Axiom executive told Forbes.

  • UlyssesT [he/him]
    ·
    8 hours ago

    I'd have accepted pretty much anything but an obnoxious flex from a private corporation and its products.

    • buckykat [none/use name]
      ·
      8 hours ago

      Call like any university and say "hey you got 3000 pounds of shit you want on a solar orbit? It might blow up, this is a test flight" And the answer will be "Yes, absolutely!"

      • UlyssesT [he/him]
        ·
        8 hours ago

        I would have been fine with that. It may have actually promoted the bazinga corporation more than a narcissistic product flex, but this was my-hero