Funding, programs and policy

Key results

Government programs

• ISS Centrifuge Accommodation Module (CAM): cancelled because of cost overruns and assembly schedule, partly over vibration concerns. It sits in Japan RanulfC, 2015-02-19; Lampyridae, 2018-07-18. It could be launched instead of a $10B ring muomega0, 2014-02-22.
• Mars Gravity Biosatellite: cancelled for lack of funding (15 weeks at 0.38 g, 32 rpm, ~30 cm radius) kdhilliard, 2015-02-24.
• NASA's stance:
• Limited AG research, no AG station design, no near-term need Jim, 2015-02-21.
• NASA considers partial-g risk acceptable for mission durations; only reproduction is unaddressed QuantumG, 2018-07-25.
• HRP overview talk (Bill Paloski) mikelepage, 2018-07-25. A NASA-led international AG research roadmap (npj Microgravity 2017) LMT, 2018-07-28.
• Mark Shelhamer (NASA HRP chief scientist): AG is the obvious countermeasure for possible Mars showstoppers ZIP DUDE, 2015-02-26.
• NIAC awards relevant to AG:
• SSI G-Lab (2014) john smith 19, 2014-02-17.
• IMSG Turbolift (2017; "$125k scraps") LMT, 2018-07-25; Aussie_Space_Nut, 2018-08-28.
• Powell's magnetically inflated cables (2006) Cedalion, 2015-10-21.
• Cordero bend-forming (2023) LMT, 2023-01-10.
• NASA CCSC-2 (June 2023): unfunded SAAs with Blue Origin, Northrop, Sierra Space, SpaceX (Starship as a LEO destination element) and others LMT, 2023-06-16; whitelancer64, 2023-06-16.
• Commercial LEO Destinations: SpaceX bid a Starship-derived station Paul451, 2022-12-31.
• ISS Multi-use Variable-g Platform (MVP) for small experiments edzieba, 2022-09-07.
• Policy timelines. Even with $10B, NASA would take ≥ a decade (Orion 2010→2021, SLS 2011→2021) punder, 2018-07-31.
• Paul451's best path: convince JAXA (and ESA) to build a small Japanese-owned human-tended AG animal facility, launched commercially Paul451, 2018-08-02.
• JAXA mouse study (2026): 0, 1/3, 2/3 and 1 g for 1 month; the threshold lies between 1/3 and 2/3 g Paul451, 2026-03-14.
• Outer Space Treaty: JohnFornaro says the US should leave the OST and use consortium governance JohnFornaro, 2024-03-12.

Private and commercial funding

• "Realistic" and "near-term" are mutually exclusive absent a billionaire (daveklingler) daveklingler, 2015-02-23. Coastal Ron's framing: "if a billionaire funded a Gen-1 station using only what's available today..." Coastal Ron, 2019-01-08.
• Gary Hudson's G-Lab (SSI): Musk told him reduced-g survival research is not a priority HMXHMX, 2018-07-18.
• Bezos (May 2019) popularized O'Neill cylinders; commercial likely first mikelepage, 2019-05-14. "Bezos best bet" Habitant, 2025-10-17.
• Musk is against large monolithic structures, not AG stations per se mikelepage, 2023-04-27. "Musk ignores problems until forced" Paul451, 2022-10-12.
• Crowd funding. "Crowd fund a Falcon Heavy launch, anyone?" MickQ, 2023-01-28. The Orbital Assembly Reg CF offering JohnFornaro, 2022-12-14.
• Private investment will fund centrifugal-gravity and reproduction research dchenevert, 2026-03-15.
• Humanitarian-mission funding for Mars colonization; stations are workplaces with business models Coastal Ron, 2022-12-08.
• O'Neill-era funding was by a program with no return; "we're one increment late" lamontagne, 2023-01-25.
• Tickets, rentals, consumables fees and taxes could fund maintenance and additional stations Stormbringer, 2014-11-30.

Professional-society programs

• BIS SPACE project (Avalon, Island Zero, Armstrong factory) and its Orbital Settlement Project, which works backwards from Avalon to a first station lamontagne, 2026-09-18; lamontagne, 2023-10-19.
• Nexus Aurora (UBM, OCS, Orbital Can) lamontagne, 2022-10-11; lamontagne, 2024-01-10.
• ISU Starport 1 student study LMT, 2023-01-09.

Open questions

• Will a government program (NASA, JAXA, ESA) or private capital fund the first partial-g human research facility?
• Can partial-g research be bundled into commercial LEO destination contracts?

Related pages

• Business models · Research and testbeds · Cost estimates · Historical concepts

Sources

Forum posts

• john smith 19, 2014-02-17 (reply #24): SSI NIAC G-Lab. Post.
• muomega0, 2014-02-22 (reply #118): Launch CAM instead. Post.
• Stormbringer, 2014-11-30 (reply #270): Fees fund stations. Post.
• RanulfC, 2015-02-19 (reply #298): CAM cancelled. Post.
• Jim, 2015-02-21 (reply #356, 2 likes): NASA limited AG research. Post.
• daveklingler, 2015-02-23 (reply #388, 1 like): Need billionaire (1 like). Post.
• kdhilliard, 2015-02-24 (reply #395, 1 like): Mars Gravity Biosatellite. Post.
• ZIP DUDE, 2015-02-26 (reply #423): Shelhamer interview. Post.
• Cedalion, 2015-10-21 (reply #707): Powell NIAC. Post.
• HMXHMX, 2018-07-18 (reply #980, 1 like): Musk not a priority. Post.
• Lampyridae, 2018-07-18 (reply #983): CAM left in Japan. Post.
• QuantumG, 2018-07-25 (reply #1021): Partial-g risk acceptable. Post.
• LMT, 2018-07-25 (reply #1024): Turbolift NIAC. Post.
• mikelepage, 2018-07-25 (reply #1026): NASA HRP overview. Post.
• LMT, 2018-07-28 (reply #1042): International AG roadmap. Post.
• punder, 2018-07-31 (reply #1083): NASA ≥ decade. Post.
• Paul451, 2018-08-02 (reply #1104): JAXA/ESA path. Post.
• Aussie_Space_Nut, 2018-08-28 (reply #1196): Turbolift. Post.
• Coastal Ron, 2019-01-08 (reply #1288): Billionaire framing. Post.
• mikelepage, 2019-05-14 (reply #1635): Bezos Blue Moon talk. Post.
• edzieba, 2022-09-07 (reply #1758, 2 likes): ISS MVP. Post.
• lamontagne, 2022-10-11 (reply #2000): Nexus Aurora OCS. Post.
• Paul451, 2022-10-12 (reply #2021, 3 likes): Musk ignores problems (3 likes). Post.
• Coastal Ron, 2022-12-08 (reply #2579): Humanitarian funding. Post.
• JohnFornaro, 2022-12-14 (reply #2648, 1 like): Reg CF. Post. Attachments: RS-by-Orbital-Assembly-12-14-22.jpg.
• Paul451, 2022-12-31 (reply #2732, 1 like): SpaceX CLD bid. Post.
• LMT, 2023-01-09 (reply #2829): Starport 1. Post. Attachments: Starport1.png, Starport_1_Final_Report_Fig4-15.png.
• LMT, 2023-01-10 (reply #2846): Cordero NIAC. Post. Attachments: cordero_bendforming_2023.png.
• lamontagne, 2023-01-25 (reply #3107, 1 like): One increment late (1 like). Post.
• MickQ, 2023-01-28 (reply #3166, 1 like): Crowd fund FH. Post.
• mikelepage, 2023-04-27 (reply #3641, 1 like): Musk vs monoliths. Post. Attachments: sci-fi.png.
• LMT, 2023-06-16 (reply #3877, 1 like): CCSC-2. Post. Attachments: SpaceX LEO destination - Berger 6.15.23.png.
• whitelancer64, 2023-06-16 (reply #3878): CCSC-2 list. Post.
• lamontagne, 2023-10-19 (reply #4221): BIS JBIS papers. Post. Attachments: JBIS-v73-no06-June-2020_5ccjwp avalon life support.pdf, JBIS-v73-no10-October-2020_r4pw21.pdf.
• lamontagne, 2024-01-10 (reply #4395, 1 like): UBM files. Post.
• JohnFornaro, 2024-03-12 (reply #4547): OST, governance. Post.
• Habitant, 2025-10-17 (reply #5014): Bezos best bet. Post.
• Paul451, 2026-03-14 (reply #5045, 6 likes): JAXA study (6 likes). Post.
• dchenevert, 2026-03-15 (reply #5049): Private investment. Post.
• lamontagne, 2026-09-18 (reply #5142, 6 likes): BIS projects (6 likes). Post.

External references

• npj Microgravity (2017), international AG research roadmap (s41526-017-0034-8).
• NASA CCSC-2 announcements (June 2023).
• JAXA partial-gravity mouse study, Science Advances, doi:10.1126/sciadv.aed2258.