Starlab signs deal with SpaceX to lift private space laboratory into orbit

Jan. 31 (UPI) -- Starlab Space, which is creating a commercial space laboratory that hopes to replace the International Space Station, signed a deal with SpaceX on Wednesday to put it into low-Earth orbit.

Starlab, a joint venture of Voyager Space and Airbus, said it has enlisted SpaceX to ferry crew members to the private space station along with making unmanned cargo supply missions. Starlab will be able to accommodate four astronauts at a time in space.

"SpaceX's history of success and reliability led our team to select Starship to orbit Starlab," Voyager's Chairman and CEO Dyland Taylor said in a statement. "SpaceX is the unmatched leader for high-cadence launches and we are proud Starlab will be launched into orbit in a single flight by Starship."

NASA, which has been behind private companies to create their space station as the ISS moves toward decommissioning, awarded $415 million to three companies so they can develop concepts, including Voyager/Airbus.

Northrop Gruman, one of the companies awarded NASA funds in 2021, has now joined the Starlab team. Blue Origin, the third company to win NASA funds, continues to work on its own private lab plans. Axiom Space is working on a separate space lab agreement with NASA.

Starlab signed on to SpaceX despite challenges bringing Starship online. Both test flights in April and November of the Starship, the most powerful spaceship ever built, ended in what SpaceX called a "rapid unscheduled disassembly."

SpaceX said the November flight, the booster of the Starship successfully detached from the rest of the spacecraft. The Starship is expected to eventually carry astronauts and cargo back to the moon and Mars.

SpaceX has temporarily set February as the third test flight for Starship.