Die NASA scheint auf jeden Fall sehr viel von privaten Raumstationen zu verlangen | „Endlich weiß die Industrie, was die NASA von ihnen verlangt.“

>NASA this week released a much-anticipated [document](https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/commercial-space/nasa-seeks-industry-input-on-second-phase-of-commercial-space-stations/), known as a “draft Request for Proposals,” that provides some clarity about what it expects from US companies attempting to build privately operated space stations in low-Earth orbit.

>The stakes are high with this document, known as a draft RFP. The space agency, publicly, has set an end date for the International Space Station of 2030. Although there is likely to be a two-year extension, time is still running short to build, test, and fly a vehicle as complex as a space station. NASA officials and the US Congress have both said they want to avoid a gap in having a human presence in orbit, and this has created considerable urgency about what comes next.

>Nearly five years ago the space agency took a concrete step toward filling this gap, awarding funding to three companies to develop space station concepts. Previously, NASA had also provided $140 million to another space station company, Axiom Space. These Space Act Agreements were intended as a prelude to a second phase of the program, which would award substantially more funding to one or two more companies to proceed into the construction and launch of their space stations. But phase two of the program kept getting delayed, in part because Congress dithered on funding.

>Then, about a year ago, the interim administrator of NASA, Sean Duffy, issued a “directive” that indicated to the private companies that the rules of the game were going to be changed due to a budget shortfall. Only months later, however, it became clear this directive would not stick. In January, a key Senate staffer resorted to “begging” NASA to release the draft RFP. Then, in March, NASA suggested it may reshuffle the rules again by building a “core module” for the private space stations to dock to.

>No one liked that because most of the competitors are seeking to build “free flying” stations, independent of the International Space Station. So NASA discarded the core module idea and released the draft RFP this week.

You can’t build a truly commercial station if you have too many requirements imposed by the government. They need to reevaluate.

If they are private maybe they shouldn’t be asking for money. Let the shareholders fund the work and then once it is complete then NASA can lease the space from the private company.