SpaceX’s Starship Wins Contract to Launch Airbus Space Station

Private space stations being developed for research, commerce
Musk’s Starship rocket to be used for moon, Mars missions

SpaceX Starship lifts off from the launchpad during a flight test from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, in 2023.Source: AFP

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By Loren Grush

January 31, 2024 at 2:00 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

SpaceX’s unproven Starship rocket has won the contract to launch a commercial space station built in part by Europe’s Airbus SE, in a new deal worth an undisclosed sum announced Wednesday.

The so-called Starlab from partners Airbus and Voyager Space Holdings, Inc. is one of a number of private orbiting space stations being developed as outposts for research and commerce in the coming decade. Built and operated by companies in partnership with NASA, the orbiting labs aim to replace the aging International Space Station due to be retired as soon as 2031.