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Space company Blue Origin, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, is working with other firms to build a space station in Earth orbit. The group announced its plans on Monday, revealing the latest concept for a custom-built orbital outpost that could replace or complement the International Space Station.

The influx of private space station offers comes as NASA searches for a replacement. 20-year-old $100 billion space lab, which is showing signs of age. It is unclear whether any of the low-Earth orbit concepts will be ready to accommodate astronauts once the time allotted for the International Space Station ends around 2030, and will depend heavily on funding NASA can get from Congress. The agency plans to allocate up to $400 million to private space companies to kickstart construction, eventually partnering with private operators, and now relying on companies like Elon Musk’s SpaceX to take cargo and astronauts to and from the ISS.

Blue Origin and its partners’ proposal, called Orbital Reef, only exists in digital animations and drawings, and executives said it could be built by the end of the decade. There will be competition from the very real Tiangong station, which China expects to finish as soon as next year, also other proposed private outposts. Lockheed Martin and Nanoracks, a firm that facilitates ISS research, announced its own space station last week Called Starlab. And Axiom Space, another contributorcontinues to launch the start of a free-flight base that will first connect to the International Space Station.

The Orbital Reef project is expected to receive substantial financial support from the committed Mr. Bezos. spends $1 billion a year He talked about his fortune at Blue Origin and announced his goal to create the conditions for millions of people to live and work in space. Founded in 2000, the company offers its customers short, up and down tourist flights to the edge of space. But it has yet to achieve other goals, such as building or winning an orbital rocket. a NASA contract to build a lunar lander for astronauts.

Key partners in the project are Sierra Space, which has been building its own space station idea for years, and aerospace giant Boeing, which has built and managed American segments on the ISS for NASA.

Blue Origin vice president Brent Sherwood told reporters from a space conference in Dubai on Monday that the proposed space station aims to “raise global awareness of new discoveries, new products, new forms of entertainment and the fragility and interconnectedness of Earth.” The station’s most basic design is similar to the current space station, with around 90 percent of its interior volume and the capacity to hold up to 10 astronauts (the ISS typically hosts seven, but up to 13 at the same time).

Sierra Space will contribute to the LIFE habitat, an inflatable module that is densely launched into space and then expands in space into a marshmallow-shaped chamber with a thick fabric for the walls. The company can also use the Dream Chaser spacecraft to send astronauts to and from the station. And Boeing’s Starliner capsule is a astronaut taxi is full of technical problems.It is also expected to take its visitors to the Orbital Reef.

Few companies seem to be able to financially afford the construction of a space station—a long run only by governments often motivated by international relations more than profit. The proposed stations, including Orbital Reef, aim to generate income from wealthy tourists as well as academic and institutional researchers. However, executives said certain metrics on that demand remained fuzzy.

Another client base for the station will be government space agencies. The Orbital Reef team is already talking to other countries, Janet Kavandi The head of Sierra Space and a former astronaut said in an interview: space program of the United Arab Emirates.

Speaking at the annual International Astronomy Congress in Dubai, Ms Kavandi said, “The UAE is very interested and there has been a lot of discussion over the past few months about them partnering with us.” “We will also be in talks with other partners, many of whom are partners that NASA has on the ISS today, as well as partners who have not flown in space in the past,” he added.

Mike Gold, vice president of Redwire Space, another firm that partners with Blue Origin, said elements of the new space station could eventually become a testbed for technologies that will help astronauts live on the moon.

Orbital Reef is Blue Origin’s second major partnership with other space firms. In 2019, the company teamed up with Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Draper on a proposal for a moon landing for NASA called Blue Moon. However, NASA chose the landing vehicle launched by SpaceX.

Mr. Sherwood declined to say how much Orbital Reef will cost or how much Mr. Bezos plans to contribute. Mr. Sherwood and others said much of the station’s cost and scope will depend on how much NASA can spend under the new program to fund private space station proposals.

“We are committed to making this happen regardless of how much funding NASA can provide,” said Mr Sherwood.