The test is part of a campaign to build a successor to the International Space Station.
Sierra Space, the company developing the Orbital Reef "space business park" alongside Jeff Bezos' space company Blue Origin, just blew up a prototype space station module.
The deliberate explosion was the fourth of four explosions the company performed as part of a test campaign aimed at verifying the inflatable habitat for its International Space Station successor. You can watch the dramatic footage in the video below.Colorado-based Sierra Space announced on Wednesday that it had blown up the last of its prototype modules designated for its explosive test campaign.
According to Sierra Space, the latest test shows its full-scale module will likely be able to withstand pressurization in space for more than 60 years. That means it will have a great deal of redundancy, as the Orbital Reed space station is expected to have a roughly 15-year lifespan. "We are obviously simulating pressures well in excess of the norm," Shawn Buckley, Sierra Space chief engineer for LIFE, explained in the statement. "Test after extreme test, we continue to exceed our program requirements."Back in 2021, NASA announced three contracts totaling $415 million for private space firms to develop US-operated successors to the ISS.
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