Commercial Space Station Developer ‘Axiom Space’

Article by Dan Primack, Miriam Kramer                                      February 17, 2021                                          (axios.com)

• Houston-based ‘Axiom Space’ aims to be the world’s first commercial space station. Toward that end, it has raised $130 million in capital funding. Axiom represents what many believe is the future of space. Axiom will work with SpaceX, valued at $74 billion, on next January’s planned tourism trip to the International Space Station.

• Axiom’s plan begins with the launch of a commercial module that will be hooked up to the International Space Station in the 2024 time frame. Additional modules will be added to the Axiom module complex in subsequent years to create a commercial wing of the space station. When the ISS is decommissioned in 2028, as planned, Axiom will detach its commercial space base and operate independently as a privately owned space station.

Axiom Space, a Houston-based developer of what would be the world’s first commercial space station, raised $130 million in Series B funding led by C5 Capital.
Why it matters: Axiom represents what many believe is the future of space, whereby NASA becomes a customer everywhere in low-Earth orbit so that it can focus on the Moon, Mars and beyond.

• Other investors include Declaration Partners, Moelis Dynasty Investments, The Venture Collective, Hemisphere Ventures and Starbridge VC.

• More space bucks: SpaceX raised $850 million last week at around a $74 billion valuation last week, per CNBC. Axiom and SpaceX are working together on next January’s planned tourism trip to the International Space Station.

The bottom line: “Axiom’s plan for its own space station would begin with the launch of a commercial module that would be hooked up to the International Space Station in the 2024 time frame. Additional modules would be added to Axiom’s complex during the years that follow. If the ISS is decommissioned in 2028, as planned, Axiom would detach its modules and operate them independently as a privately owned space station,” Geekwire’s Alan Boyle reports.

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