Philippe Starck’s designs are often otherworldly, and now they’ll be out of this world, quite literally.
Nearly 15 months ago, the Frenchman released renderings of his designs for the habitation modules for Axiom Space’s first space-tourism program, and then in late January, NASA awarded the company the contract, tasking it with providing at least one habitable commercial module to attach to the International Space Station and thereby creating the world’s first commercial space station.
Starck’s aim was to create a safe, womb-like space featuring big windows and padded, pillowy walls with nano-LED lights that change color in conjunction with the view outside, plus handrails throughout to make it easier to manoeuvre when weightless. “My vision is to create a comfortable egg, friendly, where walls are so soft and in harmony with the values of movements of the human body in zero gravity,” Starck said on his website. “The traveller should physically and mentally feel their action of floating in the universe.”
Designed to eventually detach and act as an independent space station when the ISS is decommissioned, Axiom’s module will house professional astronauts and private citizens alike, allowing both to live and work in space in a microgravity environment. A 360-degree windowed Earth observatory will offer unobstructed views of the cosmos, and each pod will mimic the mood and biorhythm of its inhabitant.
Per a press release, NASA’s plan is to open the International Space Station to commercial and marketing partnerships, particularly in low-Earth orbit, and “Axiom’s work to develop a commercial destination in space is a critical step for NASA to meet its long-term needs for astronaut training, scientific research, and technology demonstrations,” NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a statement.
For his part, Starck’s view is a bit more poetic. “A space station is ruled by a fundamental law: zero gravity. Unlike terrestrial life constraints, life in space is a multi-directional freedom,” he said. “Space is the intelligence of the future.”
