The International Space Station (ISS) will soon have to be replaced and NASA recently asked Airbus to come up with a new prototype.
Dubbed the ‘Airbus Loop’, the proposed space station is a modular vehicle with luxury pods and a three-story greenhouse.
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Airbus is mostly known for the civilian aircraft that airlines use but the company also makes jet for military use.
It also has a space branch and it looks like they clearly know what they’re doing.
The Loop is designed to be a self-sufficient, multi-purpose space machine that can double as a home.
With that in mind, Airbus came up with the blueprint for a vehicle that’s also a three-story building.
The first and probably most important feature we need to talk about is the centrally-located tunnel that connects all three floors.
The tunnel also accommodates a vertical greenhouse that spans all three stories.
It’s a unique design, and a clever use of space – no pun intended.
The Loop is designed as a modular vehicle, meaning some of its components are interchangeable.
Airbus designed it with three decks.
There’s a science room, which is also a storage room, a habitation room, and then a third deck with a ‘Centrifuge’ that can simulate gravity in space.
Among other things, the Loop features a gym and four luxury pods.
In theory, the Loop is smaller than the current station and can only accommodate four people instead of seven.
However, in practice, the Habitation Deck can be temporarily rearranged to sleep eight if necessary.
The existing ISS was launched in 1998 and has provided a home for 251 people from 20 different nations.
Deorbit has been scheduled for January 2031.
The Loop is compatible with the latest generation of rockets, meaning it can be launched into space in one piece and immediately operational once in orbit.
