The Gateway Foundation aims to create the first orbital station with artificial gravity. On board, tourists and researchers will be able to stay for several weeks. The foundation wishes to make it operational from 2025. If the timetable seems very ambitious, the project remains nevertheless fascinating, with a structure worthy of a work of science fiction.
Created by John Blincow in 2012, the Gateway Foundation promises us dreams, at least on paper, with its space station project. Named Voyager , and modeled on the concepts imagined by Wernher von Braun, it would take the form of a moving circular platform nearly 500 meters wide . The inertia and centripetal force of acceleration would then generate pressure on the outer walls of the structure, ultimately creating a gravity almost similar to that of the Moon .
The station would be able to accommodate a little over 400 people , crew included. The stated objective:for the station to be functional by 2025 , before opening its doors in 2027 at a cost of around $70 billion . If it were to be realized, it would then be the largest man-made structure in space.
On the structure side, a docking bay will be available to accommodate the shuttles. An elevator will then take you to the Hub:the "heart" of the station. You will find there in particular the administration, the control center or the storage places, without forgetting a magnificent view of our planet.
You will then be taken to the Lunar Gravity Area (LGA) which is the center of life. Voyager will offer twenty-four integrated housing modules measuring twenty by twelve meters . You will find living quarters, but also a gymnasium, a restaurant, a cinema, or even a spa. Note that below each room will be a small emergency shuttle to be used only in case of emergency.
The station will also present itself as a leading scientific center . The planned gravity ring could indeed become a research platform for agencies and other private aerospace companies interested in the effects of partial artificial gravity on non-living and living systems. This work will also pave the way for larger and more complex structures in space.
Looking to the future, government and private companies will be authorized to use Voyager modules for lunar training missions and beyond, providing a launching pad for entrepreneurs to develop and market tourism activities in the space.
More recently, new details have been revealed about this ambitious station. During a question-and-answer session organized on January 29, we learned in particular that the Orbital Assembly Corporation, which is piloting the project, was now officially open to investors private until April 1, 2021 ($0.25 per share).
Before the station can start spinning, its builders will naturally have to establish the necessary orbital infrastructure and create smaller structures to test the concept. According to John Blincow, an assembly robot named STAR will eventually build the frame of the future structure. In preparation, a smaller ground-based prototype known as DSTAR will test the technology on Earth.
The machine, which weighs almost eight tons in mass, will soon be tested in California. The prototype will produce a trellis section approximately 90 meters long in less than 90 minutes. There will also be talk of developing an observation drone that will allow researchers to remotely view the progress of the work via a virtual reality headset.
The OAC will also need to prove the viability of stable artificial gravity in space. To do this, the company plans to build a prototype measuring approximately 61 meters in diameter designed to create an artificial gravity almost similar to that of Mars, which is approximately 40% of that of Earth . Building and launching this prototype is expected to take two to three years. Once installed in orbit, its assembly will only take three days.
