If a British company wins, the International Space Station might have its own dedicated movie studio and sports arena.
Space Entertainment Enterprise, based out of London, announced plans for a television, film, and sports broadcast module to the ISS. This will be launched in 2024.
AxiomSpace is currently building it. It also plans to attach and launch the station to space in 2024.
SEE has an existing foundation in space entertainment. They claim to be producing a film in collaboration with Tom Cruise that will be shot in part at the station.
The new entertainment center, known as SEE-1 is attached to Axiom’s module. It will then separate from the ISS and become its own space station.
The spherical, inflated module has not been cost or budgeted. However it will be approximately 20 ft in diameter. It is open for third-party production of film and television.
If a British company wins, the International Space Station might have its own dedicated sports and film studio by the middle decade. The new module is portrayed by an artist
SEE-1 stands for the new entertainment centre. This will attach to the Axiom Module, which in turn will separate from the ISS, to create its own station.
The move is part of a growing commercial shift to the space-based facility. Next month, the first private astronaut team will launch.
NASA and Russia have both committed to the funding of the ageing station up until 2030.
The plan is to have a number of commercial orbiting Earth stations, one being from Axiom Space. This will likely include SEE-1.
When it launches, it will become the first entertainment studio and multi-purpose space arena in the world.
SEE states that this module will be able to allow producers, artists and creatives, as well as creators, to produce, record and live stream content. It maximizes the Space Station’s low-orbit microgravity environment including movies, TV, music, and sporting events.
Dmitry Lesnevsky and Elena Lesnevsky were co-founders and said that it was an ‘incredible opportunity for humanity’ to enter a new realm and begin a thrilling new chapter in space.
“It will be a unique and accessible venue for endless entertainment possibilities. It will also feature an innovative infrastructure that will allow you to unleash new levels of creativity.
SEE also produces movies and events. The firm says that it can provide the venue and production infrastructure necessary to film and host third-party events.
SEE-1 is expected to be fully operational by December 2024. It will then go into orbit with Axiom Station in early spacecraft assembly.
Once the initial station configuration has been completed, it will be ready for separation from the ISS 2028. The content creation venue will make up one-fifth its volume.
Michael Suffredini (President and CEO at Axiom Space) stated that Axiom Station is the first commercial orbital station in the world.
“Adding an entertainment venue dedicated to Axiom station’s commercial capabilities, in the form SEE-1, will increase the station’s utility and showcase the wide range of new opportunities that the space economy has to offer.
Axiom is building the module. Axiom Space is also working on a tourist and research module. The station is scheduled to launch in 2024.
Dr. Michael Baine from Axiom, Chief Engineer of Space Environments said that SEE-1 would demonstrate the potential for space environments to be exploited in unprecedented ways.
‘The inflatable module design provides for around six meters diameter of unobstructed pressurized volume, which can be adapted to a range of activities – including an onboard state-of-the-art media production capability that will capture and convey the experience of weightlessness with breathtaking impact.’
SEE had confirmed production of the mysterious space film starring Tom Cruise. NASA confirms this movie in 2020.
Axiom Space is expected to take Cruise and a producer from the station, possibly within next year.
SEE was co-founded in 2007 by Elena and Dmitry Lesnevsky. It also includes former consultants from Viacom and HBO.
EXPLAINED. THE $100 BILLION INTERNATIONALSPACE STATION IS SET 250 MILES ABOVE EARTH
The International Space Station (ISS) is a $100 billion (£80 billion) science and engineering laboratory that orbits 250 miles (400 km) above Earth.
It is manned permanently by astronauts, cosmonauts, and rotating crews from the space station since November 2000.
Crews have mostly been from Russia and America, though the Japanese space agency JAXA has also sent astronauts.
Over 20 years, the International Space Station has been continuously used. Numerous new modules and system upgrades have been made to it.
Research conducted aboard the ISS often requires one or more of the unusual conditions present in low Earth orbit, such as low-gravity or oxygen.
ISS studies have investigated human research, space medicine, life sciences, physical sciences, astronomy and meteorology.
The US space agency, NASA, spends about $3 billion (£2.4 billion) a year on the space station program, with the remaining funding coming from international partners, including Europe, Russia and Japan.
So far 244 individuals from 19 countries have visited the station, and among them eight private citizens who spent up to $50 million for their visit.
A debate continues about what will happen to the station after 2025. Some of its original structures may eventually die.
Russia is a key partner of the station and plans to launch an orbital platform with AxiomSpace, a private company, around that time. It will also send its modules to the station for commercial purposes.
NASA, ESA and JAXA, as well as Canada’s Space Agency (CSA), are now working in tandem to create a space station orbiting the moon. Russia and China also have similar projects, which would include a base at the surface.