ROOT / SPACE // SPACE STATIONS
// Space · decoded · deep-research pass
Space Stations, decoded.
Post-ISS commercial and national outposts.
CURATED INDEX◊ confidence: High
// the signal · what the data says
The ISS retires ~2030, triggering a transition to commercial stations (Axiom, Orbital Reef, Starlab) and leaving China's Tiangong as the only continuously crewed national station. Pressurized volume and sustainable crew size are the metrics that decide which survive the funding gap.
// comparison · every entry, benchmarked & annotated
| Name | Maker | Crew | Volume (m3) | First flight (yr) | Operator |
|---|
| ISS | Intl | 7 | 916 | 1998 | NASA/Intl |
| ◊ Retires ~2030 |
| Tiangong | China | 3 | 340 | 2021 | CMSA |
| ◊ Only national station, expandable |
| Orbital Reef | Blue Origin | 10 | 830 | 2027 | Blue/Sierra |
| ◊ Commercial LEO destination |
| Axiom Station | Axiom | 4 | 400 | 2027 | Axiom |
| ◊ ISS-attached then free-flyer |
| Starlab | Voyager | 4 | 340 | 2028 | Voyager/Airbus |
| ◊ Single-launch station |
// leaderboard · Crew
01Orbital Reef10
02ISS7
03Axiom Station4
04Starlab4
05Tiangong3
// sources & where to verify
// full index, per-field sourcing & CSV export [ AUTHENTICATE → ]
◊ Deep-research pass, mid-2026. Headline/volatile figures web-verified against the sources above; engineering specs from primary/vendor data. Green = best value in column · confidence: High · verify volatile figures (prices, counts, live feeds) before publishing.