The Future
The first phase of ABOVE Space operations involves the development of automated systems. This logically leads to free-flyer platforms which in turn will usher in habitable platforms that provide a low level of gravity for commercial payloads like thin film processing and 3D printing. The ability to offer customizable, variable gravity, even at low levels, makes more commercial activity, and specific critical applications in space, viable.
Gravity is even more critical in the area of space habitation. Our inevitable long-term future in space depends upon it.
Without gravity, the human body declines in ways that make long-term, sustained occupation of space impractical.
In a first-of-its-kind comprehensive review of gravity research commissioned by ABOVE and published by Dr. Mae Jemison, former NASA ISS astronaut, and Ronke Olabisi, Ph.D. at UC Irvine, the difficulties of space habitation without gravity were illuminated:
Without gravity, the human body declines in ways that make long-term, sustained occupation of space impractical.
In a first-of-its-kind comprehensive review of gravity research commissioned by ABOVE and published by Dr. Mae Jemison, former NASA ISS astronaut, and Ronke Olabisi, Ph.D. at UC Irvine, the difficulties of space habitation without gravity were illuminated:
- Human physiology declines from continuous microgravity environments.
- The long-term negative effects of weightlessness on human physiology have been well-documented.
- Non-astronaut human habitation requires an environment that is closer to earth’s gravity (e.g. eating, sleeping, and hygiene).
- Controllable, variable gravity is the pathway to a sustained presence in space.
ABOVE offers a detailed roadmap to achieve gravity in space.
The first Prometheus platform planned to be on orbit within the year allows our team to validate technologies that demonstrate directional control of free-flyer spacecraft, eventually leading to gravity-based platforms.
A single Station in a Box (SIB) platform is a zero-G, pressurized station that is designed to host 8X the commercial customers of the ISS and provide enough power to enable processes like metal and thin-film processing.
SIB is a foundational component of planned future space stations with variable gravity.
If you’re interested in learning more about our company and product roadmap, visit this link.
If you’re interested in learning more about our company and product roadmap, visit this link.
ABOVE Space designs and develops adaptive, versatile space architectures for commercial customers and the U.S. Department of Defense. ABOVE is focused on meeting the current burgeoning demand for automated, on-orbit platforms. Combining our unique space flight heritage with commercial, off-the-shelf, and proprietary technologies, our scalable, modular solutions can be deployed rapidly for commercial flexibility and for controlled on-orbit defensive maneuvering. ABOVE: Orbital, Inc. is a subsidiary of Above: Space Development Corporation, which is planning for future habitability in LEO, cislunar space, and beyond.