World’s first ‘inflatable space station’ module dramatically explodes in test as scientists race to replace ageing ISS

THE world’s first prototype inflatable space station has dramatically exploded in a recent test, as scientists look to build a new orbital post.

It was the fifth intentionally destructive test scientists have put the module through, as they hope it will teach them how to build one that won’t fatally explode in space.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' space company Blue Origin wants to replace the ISS with its own Orbital Reef station — Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin wants to replace the ISS with its own Orbital Reef stationCredit: Sierra Space / Blue Origin

Colorado-based firm Sierra Space is leading a mission to create an inflatable module for the International Space Station’s (ISS) successor.

The company has been rigorously ‘burst pressure’ testing its balloon-like design at Nasa’s Marshall Space Flight Centre in Alabama.

“All of this testing, all of this development, that mean we might be bringing it to failure, is actually bringing it to success,” LaShawn Buckley, senior director of engineering at Sierra Space, said.

“This will be the first time that there is a soft goods inflatable habitat in space with a window.

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“We want to make sure our product lines are robust and they are safe.

“How do we make them safe in space? We fail them on Earth, and then in space, they don’t fail.”

The ISS has orbiting Earth for what seems like a lifetime (since 1998).

But in January last year, Nasa announced it would de-orbit the station by 2031.

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Since then, a lot of ideas have been floated as to what to replace it with.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin has pitched the Orbital Reef, a next-generation orbital post that is hoped to succeed the ISS.

The project has received early-stage funding from Nasa, and has teamed up with Sierra Space to develop a soft-viewing-pod.

The latest explosive test was conducted on August 17, but footage of which has only just been released.

Sierra Space has many tests to still undergo until it’s ready.

It doesn’t have to be completed until the turn of the decade – when the ISS is expected to be met with a fiery, watery, death as some of it burns up in Earth’s atmosphere before the rest of its plummets into the ocean.