WASHINGTON \u2014 Voyager Technologies and Max Space, a company working on expandable habitats, plan to work together to see how that technology could be used for lunar exploration.<\/p>\n
The companies announced Feb. 5 a strategic partnership to examine how expandable modules could be used to support lunar exploration, such as habitats on the lunar surface. The partnership would combine Max Space\u2019s work on expandable modules with Voyager\u2019s space technology expertise.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was clear to us that inflatable technology was critical for habitat and deep-space use cases,\u201d Dylan Taylor, chairman and chief executive of Voyager, said in an interview. The company had previously explored uses of inflatable modules for the Starlab space station in partnership with Lockheed Martin before electing to work with Airbus Defence and Space on large rigid modules.<\/p>\n
He added he knew one of the founders of Max Space, Aaron Kemmer, from Kemmer\u2019s time at space manufacturing company Made In Space, which Taylor had invested in. \u201cIt just felt very synergistic in terms of what we were trying to achieve and what Max was doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The companies plan to work together to demonstrate the capabilities of expandable modules for lunar exploration. \u201cWe\u2019re looking at putting together very specific programs of work that support NASA\u2019s ambitions to move quickly,\u201d said Saleem Miyan, Max Space\u2019s chief executive, in an interview.<\/p>\n
That would include both ground and in-space technology demonstrations by the end of the decade. \u201cI think it will be a much more aggressive timeline than that,\u201d Taylor said, with the goal of getting a habitat on the moon as quickly as possible. \u201cThat\u2019s the litmus test: working hardware in the lunar environment.\u201d<\/p>\n