Axiom Space looks to India and Europe for rockets to help build its private space station

Axiom Space of Houston is considering using launch vehicles from India and Europe to help build its commercial space station mission in low-Earth orbit, according to media reports.

An Axiom Space spokesperson told Reuters the company is in talks with India as well as European nations to explore “the best fit for its missions” and to diversify its supply chain. Rockets and launch vehicles from these nations could be used to “transport raw materials as we develop our space station,” the representative said.

Axiom Space won NASA’s contract in 2020 to construct a habitable module that will attach to the International Space Station (ISS). If successful, the module would mark the company’s first step toward building its own orbital outpost. 

Axiom’s ISS module is being constructed by Europe’s Thales Alenia Space and has yet to arrive in Houston to be completed for a planned 2026 launch. The module will serve as a foundation for at least three more modules as per the company’s space station architecture. 

The final piece, a thermal power module, will help Axiom’s space station modules detach from the ISS and become free-flying in Earth orbit, essentially replacing the ISS after it is decommissioned in 2030.

Axiom Space may be considering Europe’s homegrown Ariane 6 rocket, whose debut flight occurred without hiccups earlier this year and successfully deployed all nine cubesats it carried to orbit.

India’s space agency ISRO recently announced its Small Satellite Launch Vehicle was completed and ready to be transferred to the industry for mass production. The move could help the nation’s private sector build smaller, more affordable rockets.

Meanwhile, two startups, Hyderabad-based Skyroot and Chennai-based Agnikul Cosmos, are building multi-stage rockets capable of ferrying payloads of up to 300 kg (661 lb) into low Earth orbit. 

The burgeoning Indian private sector made history in 2022, when Skyroot launched the country’s first privately developed rocket, just two years after the government allowed private firms into the space sector. Agnikul successfully launched the second privately built rocket in May, followed by the nation’s first 3D-printed rocket engine that experts say signaled an unparalleled ability to assemble rockets rapidly.

As India eyes becoming a major space power, the country needs to create “leading space companies and not merely service companies,” S. Somanath, the chairman of ISRO, said on Tuesday at an industry event in New Delhi.

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