On Jan. 21, Sierra Space performed an “ultimate burst pressure test” on a full-scale model of its Large Integrated Flexible Environment (LIFE) habitat — an inflatable space station module. The launcher-agnostic habitat is designed to be launched encapsulated within any four-meter fairing, docked to a space station in orbit, and then inflated to a 9-meter by 16-meter structure, ready for operation.
Alongside Sierra Space, other private commercial space station companies and agencies are continuing to develop their space stations and deliver the first segments of their upcoming stations. Several of these companies have received contracts from agencies like NASA, while others are fully private with no assistance from NASA or other agencies.