A-Loop commercial LEO space station post-ISS
December 2021 – April 2023
Airbus project for ESA RFI
Concept study under a contract for Aibus in Answer to a Request for Information by ESA.
VR-display for immersion into the design concept of A-Loop, presented at the Air & Space Conference 2023.
> Airbus reference and booklet >
Airbus is showing first impressions of a concept for a future space station. It is designed to make even long-term stays in Space as agreeable as possible for its inhabitants, while remaining efficient and effective. The concept comprises all necessary life support systems, a habitation deck with crew quarters and exercise possibilities, a science deck with an airlock, payload space, rack system and shelving), and even a centrifuge, that can create gravity situation for the inhabitants, reducing the stress that longer-term stays in weightlessness can have on the human body.
Airbus is building on its substantial heritage from major human space flight programmes such as the ISS Columbus Module and the Orion ESM. Airbus is already engaging partners in the concept and is ready to work with additional partners to see how together, we can make this a reality.
Consortium partners
AIBUS Space & Defence – Germany / LIQUIFER – Austria / SPARTAN SPACE – France / Space Applications Services – Belgium
LIQUIFER team Barbara Imhof, René Waclavicek
Image/Video credit: Damjan Minovski for LIQUIFER