Starlab, a commercial space station designed to maintain a human presence in low-Earth orbit and operated by Voyager Space and Airbus, has moved a step closer to reality.
During the European Space Agency (ESA) summit in Seville, Spain, the two companies along with the ESA signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the Starlab space station. The agreement outlined the station's focus on science and technology development as well as how the collaboration will offer an alternative low-Earth orbit destination. Right now, the International Space Station (ISS) is the go-to — however, the ISS is set to be retired in 2030 and scheduled to be totally deorbited in 2031.
