Louisville's Sierra Space Will Design New Commercial Space Station

Sierra Space and Blue Origin, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, have successfully completed the review phase of the proposed Orbital Reef space station and will now move to the design phase. 

The review phase, known as the System Definition Review, is a baseline to establish functionality in space. NASA gave the companies the approval to move to the design phase of the project. 

"We are on the doorstep of the most profound industrial revolution in human history. An industrial revolution marked by the transition from the last 60 years of space exploration to a future where humanity extends our factories and cities into space. It isn't solely about tourism – it is about unlocking the next great discoveries using the microgravity factories that we will build just 250 miles above the Earth's surface," Tom Vice, CEO of Sierra Space, said. "The microgravity factories and services provided by Orbital Reef have the potential to revolutionize every industry and become a major growth contributor to the U.S. and world economies."

Orbital Reef is planned to be the first commercially developed, owned, and operated space station. Sierra Space and Blue Origin have partnered with Amazon Web Services, Arizona State University, Boeing, and others to deliver to NASA designs for a fully-functional space station.