Module sizing, floors and interior layout

Key results

Launch-driven module sizes

• Starship: 8 m diameter × 8 m cylindrical payload section, 17.24 m total; an extended 22 m bay option Coastal Ron, 2022-10-10; lamontagne, 2022-12-12.
• Common module choices:
  • 8 m diameter × 10 m (Coastal Ron) Coastal Ron, 2022-12-12.
  • 8 m × ~15 m, 3 floors ("Space Can") lamontagne, 2023-01-19.
  • 7.5 × 15 m tubes lamontagne, 2024-01-28.
  • 15 × 5 m (Island Zero) lamontagne, 2026-08-20.
  • Hinged pairs 4.6 m deep × 13.5 m wide (mikelepage) mikelepage, 2023-05-16.
  • 14 m tall, 8 × 5 m base (mikelepage, allowing for narrow payload doors) mikelepage, 2023-04-10.
• Paul451: nest a 3 × 17 m tube inside a 5 × 15 m inside a 7 × 10 m Paul451, 2024-01-28.
• A Starship payload with 0.5 m wall clearance fits a 5.6 m square; hexagonal sections give ~30% more volume Paul451, 2024-07-16.
• Earlier launchers: F9/FH 5 m fairings forced telescoping and tapered tubes Aussie_Space_Nut, 2015-03-12; New Glenn 7 m; a single-launch spin station ≈ 2–2.5× the fairing diameter mikelepage, 2019-05-14.
• Vast uses ~7 m modules to fit any possible fairing mikelepage, 2023-06-03.

Floors and orientation

• BA330 (6.7 m inner diameter) is awkward for floors; 9 m inner diameter allows 3 floors Roy_H, 2014-03-16. A single 8 m Starship floor ≈ 50 m² (540 ft²) rakaydos, 2024-04-02.
• Orientation. Cores parallel to the spin axis mikelepage, 2015-03-03. Floors on bearings let "down" swing from tangential (during spin-up) to radial.
• Flat vs curved floors.
• Flat segments allow standard racks that can move between levels. Physically curved floors are "gravitationally flat" but differ with radius Paul451, 2023-06-13.
• On small stations, curved floors are needed for beds and tables tenkendojo, 2023-06-14.
• Walls should be radial (pointing at the axis) Habitant, 2026-09-11.
• Sliding doors at 24 m radius Habitant, 2026-09-09.
• Mechanical floors. Skyscrapers use a double-height mechanical floor every 20–30 floors (10–15% of volume). Expect ≥20% of a station for utilities; central plants beyond ~100 m waste space on runs Twark_Main, 2024-08-15.
• Storage. The ISS lacked storage ("stuff everywhere"); McMurdo is about 1/3 storage Vultur, 2024-08-15.
• Space per person.
• NASA long-duration guideline ~20 m³/person Twark_Main, 2022-12-17.
• SEALAB II: 63 m² for 9 divers (7 m² each) Coastal Ron, 2019-04-13.
• Small Kalpana: 40 m² per person lamontagne, 2019-09-13.
• Ceiling height. Volume more than 4 m above the walking surface has little value lamontagne, 2023-02-21.

Interior layout practice

• Prototype layouts by walking through full-scale mock-ups (an 8–9 m yurt) and use Alexandrian progressive design (A Pattern Language) Twark_Main, 2022-12-30; Twark_Main, 2022-12-31. Build Earth mock-ups ("Analog City") for training Coastal Ron, 2022-12-31.
• Don't put offices above sleeping quarters; put bunks up top. Mars-g floors need less soundproofing Twark_Main, 2022-12-31; Coastal Ron, 2022-12-31.
• Reconfigurable interiors:
• Rotatable sleeping-pod "hive" mikelepage, 2019-04-05.
• Fixed floors and ceilings with rotating wall plates Paul451, 2019-04-09.
• "Water walls" that double as storm shelter mikelepage, 2019-04-08.
• Twark_Main's cellular structure: pressure-isolation bulkheads every N floors; module size set so occupants can evacuate at the maximum leak rate. "Hull breach everywhere" eggshell designs are "bonkers" Twark_Main, 2023-09-25; Twark_Main, 2023-09-26.

Cargo standards

• ISPR: 1.571 m³, 2.0 × 1.05 × 0.86 m, 104 kg + 700 kg payload lamontagne, 2023-02-03. Its shape comes from ISS module packaging Twark_Main, 2023-02-04.
• Proposed Large Standard Payload Rack ~1.7 × 1.4 × 3.14 m (>4× ISPR), sized to the hatch Twark_Main, 2024-01-25.
• Containers. 1.5 m cubes on wheeled chassis through 2 m ports lamontagne, 2023-02-06. Aircraft ULDs as a model lamontagne, 2023-02-04; Coastal Ron, 2023-02-04.
• The first Starship container standard will become the default through infrastructure lock-in Paul451, 2023-02-05.
• Large packages are dangerous to handle manually, like the 20 kg lifting limit in work codes lamontagne, 2024-01-25.

Open questions

• What hatch size is the minimum? The UBM is 2 × 2 m, and Coastal Ron wants 2.5 m for two-level 8 m modules Coastal Ron, 2024-01-15; mikelepage, 2024-01-14.
• What is the optimal crew density for long stays ("how quickly would you get stir crazy with 20 crew?")? rakaydos, 2024-04-02

Related pages

• Inflatable modules · Seals and joints · Rotating airlocks and cargo

Sources

Forum posts

• Roy_H, 2014-03-16 (reply #157): 9 m ID for 3 floors. Post.
• mikelepage, 2015-03-03 (reply #474): Cores parallel to spin axis; floors on bearings swing. Post.
• Aussie_Space_Nut, 2015-03-12 (reply #517): Tapered nested tubes fit F9 fairing. Post.
• mikelepage, 2019-04-05 (reply #1470): Sleeping pod hive. Post. Attachments: SSrotatingcabins2.mp4.
• mikelepage, 2019-04-08 (reply #1505, 1 like): Water walls. Post. Attachments: Pods_closed.png, Pods_ajar.png, Pods_open.png, Pods_turning.png.
• Paul451, 2019-04-09 (reply #1508): Rotating wall plates. Post.
• Coastal Ron, 2019-04-13 (reply #1550): SEALAB II 7 m² per diver; ICRC 5.4 m² cell. Post.
• mikelepage, 2019-05-14 (reply #1637): Single-launch spin station ≈ 2–2.5× fairing. Post.
• lamontagne, 2019-09-13 (reply #1668, 1 like): Small Kalpana 40 m²/person. Post. Attachments: Kalplana_Scene 1.jpg.
• Coastal Ron, 2022-10-10 (reply #1968): Starship payload 8 m × 17.24 m. Post.
• Coastal Ron, 2022-12-12 (reply #2633): 8 m modules like LA-class sub. Post.
• lamontagne, 2022-12-12 (reply #2634): 22 m extended bay. Post. Attachments: fairing.PNG.
• Twark_Main, 2022-12-17 (reply #2661): 20 m³/person; 500-person sphere sizing. Post. Attachments: NASA_pressurized_volume.PNG, radiation_shield_thickness.jpeg.
• Twark_Main, 2022-12-30 (reply #2726): Walk-through mock-ups; single big berthing hatch. Post. Attachments: yurt_construction_document.pdf.
• Twark_Main, 2022-12-31 (reply #2728): Alexandrian design. Post.
• Coastal Ron, 2022-12-31 (reply #2731): Earth mock-ups for training. Post.
• Twark_Main, 2022-12-31 (reply #2747): Bunks above; floor strength. Post.
• lamontagne, 2023-01-19 (reply #2981, 1 like): Space Can 8 × 15 m, 3 floors. Post. Attachments: can.png, can2.png.
• lamontagne, 2023-02-03 (reply #3232): ISPR dimensions. Post.
• Twark_Main, 2023-02-04 (reply #3236): ISPR shape from ISS geometry. Post. Attachments: ISPR_diagram.jpg.
• lamontagne, 2023-02-04 (reply #3239): ULDs. Post.
• Coastal Ron, 2023-02-04 (reply #3240): Iterate standards; ULD start. Post.
• Paul451, 2023-02-05 (reply #3241, 1 like): Starship container standard lock-in (1 like). Post.
• lamontagne, 2023-02-06 (reply #3250, 3 likes): 1.5 m containers (3 likes). Post. Attachments: Container_1.png, Container_2.png, Container_3.png.
• lamontagne, 2023-02-21 (reply #3389, 1 like): Volume >4 m above floor low value. Post.
• mikelepage, 2023-04-10 (reply #3590): Modules 14 m tall, 8 × 5 m. Post. Attachments: Guess at reusable SS payload dimensions.png.
• mikelepage, 2023-05-16 (reply #3717, 2 likes): mikelepage hinged module pairs. Post. Attachments: Screen Shot 2023-05-16 at 5.54.00 pm.png, Screen Shot 2023-05-16 at 6.31.55 pm.png, Screen Shot 2023-05-16 at 7.23.02 pm.png.
• mikelepage, 2023-06-03 (reply #3773, 1 like): Vast ~7 m modules. Post.
• Paul451, 2023-06-13 (reply #3858, 1 like): Flat vs curved floors trade. Post.
• tenkendojo, 2023-06-14 (reply #3860, 1 like): Curved floors needed on small stations. Post.
• Twark_Main, 2023-09-25 (reply #4022, 1 like): Cellular structure vs eggshell (1 like). Post.
• Twark_Main, 2023-09-26 (reply #4026): Modules sized for evacuation. Post.
• mikelepage, 2024-01-14 (reply #4399): 2 m tall enough; hatch depth. Post.
• Coastal Ron, 2024-01-15 (reply #4401): Want larger than 2 m passageway. Post.
• Twark_Main, 2024-01-25 (reply #4403): LSPR proposal. Post. Attachments: ISPR_Inside_ISS_Module_Diagram.jpg, 167120main_Elements.pdf.
• lamontagne, 2024-01-25 (reply #4408, 1 like): Package inertia limits. Post.
• lamontagne, 2024-01-28 (reply #4424): UBM tube station 7.5 × 15 m tubes. Post. Attachments: Tube.png.
• Paul451, 2024-01-28 (reply #4427): Nested tubes in Starship. Post.
• rakaydos, 2024-04-02 (reply #4622): 8 m floor ≈ 50 m²; stir-crazy question. Post.
• Paul451, 2024-07-16 (reply #4650): Hexagonal sections +30% volume. Post.
• Twark_Main, 2024-08-15 (reply #4740): ≥20% utilities; ~100 m run limit. Post.
• Vultur, 2024-08-15 (reply #4741): ISS lacked storage; McMurdo 1/3. Post.
• lamontagne, 2026-08-20 (reply #5082, 1 like): Island Zero 15 × 5 m modules. Post. Attachments: Image10_002.jpg, Image9_002.jpg, Image10_000.jpg, Image14_001.jpg, Image22.jpg.
• Habitant, 2026-09-09 (reply #5091, 1 like): Sliding doors at 24 m radius. Post. Attachments: screenshot3.jpg.
• Habitant, 2026-09-11 (reply #5094, 2 likes): Radial walls (VR finding). Post.

External references

• Alexander, C. A Pattern Language (pattern 098 cited).
• NASA ISS elements document 167120main_Elements.pdf (ISPR packaging).