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This is what »Orbital Reef« should look like: It should be used by traders in space to research weightlessness, for example
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HANDOUT / AFP
The space company Blue Origin of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos wants to set up a private space station in space in the coming years.
"For over sixty years, NASA and other space agencies have developed orbital space travel and space colonization, paving the way for commercial business to take off in this decade," said managing director Brent Sherwood on Monday.
The space station will therefore be called "Orbital Reef" and be used by traders in space to research weightlessness, for example.
The project is a joint venture with commercial space company Sierra Space and is supported by Boeing and Arizona State University.
According to an advertising brochure from Blue Origin, the space station will fly at an altitude of 500 kilometers, a little above the International Space Station ISS.
With a volume of 830 cubic meters, it would be slightly smaller than the ISS.
The station should be operational in the second half of this decade, according to a statement from Sierra Space.
32 sunrises a day
Ten residents would have space in the station and, according to the advertising brochure, could experience 32 sunrises and sunsets a day in futuristic modules with large windows.
"We will expand access, reduce costs, and provide all the services and amenities required to normalize space travel," said Sherwood.
Blue Origin is currently able to fly into suborbital space with its New Shepard rocket.
In mid-October, the company brought "Star Trek" actor William Shatner into space, accompanied by great media hype.
Other planned projects include a rocket that can put cargo and people into orbit, and a lunar module.
However, the company has lost the order to kill Tesla founder Elon Musk's competitor SpaceX.
In addition, the company Virgin Galactic of the British entrepreneur Richard Branson offers flights into space.
ngo / AFP
