Coastal Ron: Mars-gravity station and zero-g companion (2019–2026)

Coastal Ron's main design line: a ~100 m Mars-g wheel of Earth-built 8 m modules, always paired with a non-rotating zero-g station.

Design summary

• Wheel. ~100 m diameter at Mars g, about ISS mass or more Coastal Ron, 2019-10-25.
• 8 m sealed modules, 100% from Earth, bolted with no welding Coastal Ron, 2022-10-13.
• Living modules are not structural: build the load-bearing band first, then attach modules Coastal Ron, 2023-09-29; Coastal Ron, 2026-08-21.
• ~200–300 Starship launches; buildable within 10 years if funded; ~1 year of assembly once Starship is operational Coastal Ron, 2022-10-30; Coastal Ron, 2023-01-18; Coastal Ron, 2023-06-04.
• Docking. A grapple on a 2-D gantry table on the hub exterior keeps the grapple at the centre of rotation (≤4 m off-centre): latch, spin up, move to the hub, extend the docking port. Two docks, one at each end Coastal Ron, 2022-09-28; Coastal Ron, 2022-09-29.
• Zero-g companion station. A transit point and warehouse where all visiting vehicles dock. Standardized ~4 × 5 m shuttles carry dry cargo, crew, liquids and gases; a counter-rotating platform latches them Coastal Ron, 2022-09-30; Coastal Ron, 2022-10-06.
• The station is "a city segment" supported by a fleet of zero-g stations (transit hub, warehouse, propellant, manufacturing) Coastal Ron, 2022-11-16.
• The Baltimore bridge collapse motivates keeping large ships away Coastal Ron, 2024-03-28.
• Use case. A gravity refuge for asteroid-belt miners on a long-term lease plus operations contract; work assignments only, no families. Mars g as the future standard Coastal Ron, 2022-12-24; Coastal Ron, 2023-06-03; Coastal Ron, 2023-06-10.
• If humans adapt to Mars g, Mars-g stations will be the most prevalent because they are cheaper Coastal Ron, 2023-03-03.
• Orientation. "Running around the sun" (edge-on); never despin; tiltable rim thrusters Coastal Ron, 2022-10-25.
• Four arms give more experiment area per g-level, and lifeboats at the arm ends give two exits everywhere Coastal Ron, 2023-06-10.
• Successor idea: a deep-space Mars-g refuge Coastal Ron, 2026-09-18.

Critiques raised

• Paul451: transferring cargo to shuttles reduces docking mass only ~10–20% while adding a whole station and extra dock cycles Paul451, 2024-04-03.
• Twark_Main: two stations mean docking cycles 2×/day, ~2 h leak checks, and propellant, so a quadruple-sealed rotating tunnel is better Twark_Main, 2025-09-14.
• mikelepage: formation-flying stations must be km apart mikelepage, 2023-01-28.

Open questions

• Is the zero-g companion plus shuttle architecture cheaper overall than direct docking?

Related pages

• Docking · Growth and staging · Coastal Ron X testbed

Sources

Forum posts

• Coastal Ron, 2019-10-25 (reply #1682): Mars-g wheel 100 m. Post.
• Coastal Ron, 2022-09-28 (reply #1803, 1 like): Gantry grapple. Post.
• Coastal Ron, 2022-09-29 (reply #1813): Later: arm → frame → tunnel. Post.
• Coastal Ron, 2022-09-30 (reply #1819, 2 likes): Zero-g companion. Post.
• Coastal Ron, 2022-10-06 (reply #1870): Standard shuttles. Post.
• Coastal Ron, 2022-10-13 (reply #2039): 1st generation. Post.
• Coastal Ron, 2022-10-25 (reply #2207): Never despin. Post.
• Coastal Ron, 2022-10-30 (reply #2256): ~300 launches. Post.
• Coastal Ron, 2022-11-16 (reply #2406): City segment. Post.
• Coastal Ron, 2022-12-24 (reply #2704): Refuge for miners. Post.
• Coastal Ron, 2023-01-18 (reply #2973): ~1 yr assembly. Post.
• mikelepage, 2023-01-28 (reply #3158): Formation flying. Post.
• Coastal Ron, 2023-03-03 (reply #3459): Mars-g prevalent. Post.
• Coastal Ron, 2023-06-03 (reply #3771): Mars g standard. Post.
• Coastal Ron, 2023-06-04 (reply #3778): ~200 flights. Post.
• Coastal Ron, 2023-06-10 (reply #3823): Use case. Post.
• Coastal Ron, 2023-06-10 (reply #3827): Four arms. Post.
• Coastal Ron, 2023-09-29 (reply #4082): Band first. Post.
• Coastal Ron, 2024-03-28 (reply #4613): Baltimore bridge. Post.
• Paul451, 2024-04-03 (reply #4632): Shuttle critique (1 like). Post.
• Twark_Main, 2025-09-14 (reply #4950): Two-station critique. Post.
• Coastal Ron, 2026-08-21 (reply #5083): Modules not structural. Post.
• Coastal Ron, 2026-09-18 (reply #5138, 1 like): Deep-space refuge. Post.