Space habitat (facility)

Not to be confused with Space habitat (settlement), Space colonization, or Habitation Module.
Artist's rendering of the ISS and the Axiom Orbital Segment docked at the forward port of the ISS module Harmony

A space habitat (or habitation module) in a basic sense is any facility providing shelter and fulfilling habitational purposes in outer space. It is not to be confused with an extended space settlement, an arrangement of or infrastructure for multiple habitation facilities, in the sense of a space settlement. Space stations or theoretical extraterrestrial stations, such as a Moonbase or Mars habitat, include or are basic space habitats.[citation needed]

The ISS was planned to get a now canceled dedicated Habitation Module.[1]

Space tourism is expected to place dedicated habitats into space. The Axiom Orbital Segment will be a commercial habitation extension of the ISS for purposes such as tourism, but also commercial research.[2]

Particularly inflatable space habitats have been in development. Based on the earlier NASA TransHab design,[3] inflatable habitats have been developed and tested in orbit by the now inactive company Bigelow Aerospace.[4]

  1. ^ Tariq Malik (2006-02-14). "NASA Recycles Former ISS Module for Life Support Research". Space.com. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
  2. ^ "NASA selects Axiom Space to build commercial space station module". SpaceNews.com. 2020-01-28. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
  3. ^ Covault, Craig (September 27, 2004). "Bigelow's Gamble". Aviation Week & Space Technology. Retrieved November 27, 2020 – via Spaceflight Now.
  4. ^ Mike Wall (18 August 2015). "Inflatable Habitats: From the Space Station to the Moon and Mars?". Space.com. Retrieved 27 November 2020.