Tech Briefs Magazine - July 2024 - 34

Engineering Next-Generation
Expandable Habitats
for Living in Space
If we were to live and work in space, it's essential to build and deploy
affordable and scalable habitats in space. Expandable habitats could offer
a cost-effective solution.
he International Space Station cost more than $100 Billion
to build and took 60 launches to complete. Yet, it
has only 900 cubic meters of usable space. If we are to
live and work in space, conduct meaningful research,
and use our imaginations for sports and entertainment - we
will need a lot more usable space in space. What if we could
create stronger, scalable and more resilient space stations for a
small fraction percent of this cost?
Max Space was created with the sole purpose of maximizing
the amount of habitable volume that you can unpack once
launched and deployed into space. The company's design creates
adaptable, expandable habitats that are considerably less
expensive, have more volume, and are easier to get into space.
Leveraging 25 years of cutting-edge expandable space architecture
development by Thin Red Line Aerospace, Max Space offers
scalable space modules for in-space habitation, manufacturing,
research labs, farms, tourism, sports, and entertainment.
So Why Now?
Just as we have entered a magical age of more affordable flights
to space, we find ourselves with nowhere to conduct business in
orbit, grow our food, conduct important research in zero gravity,
or have economical orbital storage modules or bases from which
we can explore planets, including Mars and other destinations in
space. In a little more than four or five years, the ISS will be decommissioned
and there will be tremendous market demand for
commercial, government, and military space stations.
T
Max Space's expandables have been exhaustively tested for optimum
safety factors, operational efficiency and predictability, and
a paradigm shift in cost reduction. They are tightly packaged for
launch and inflate upon reaching low-Earth Orbit (LEO), cislunar,
Moon, Mars, and beyond, and are innovatively designed with
the sole purpose of maximizing the amount of pressurized volume.
These expandables are safer and stronger than traditional
rigid modules due to the architecture consisting of a multi-layered
system of fiber-based ballistic shielding of much greater resilience
than aluminum and titanium counterparts.
A Different Design Approach
Max Space was founded by Aaron Kemmer and Maxim de
Jong. Aaron co-founded and served as CEO of Made In Space
- the first in-space manufacturing company, which later transitioned
to Redwire Space. Maxim is the founder of Thin Red
Line Aerospace, and widely recognized as visionary in design,
engineering, and manufacture of space expandable architecture.
Besides the expandable habitation technology now being
commercialized by Max space, Maxim's participation in dozens
of NASA programs has focused on space habitats and airlocks,
heat shields for planetary entry, descent and landing, and a
wide range of technologies for solar system exploration.
Max Space expandables use a dramatically different design
approach and philosophy than other expandable and inflatable
systems that are currently in development. The expandables
incorporate " isotensoid " architecture whereby every
A view from outside the Max Space expandable habitat. (Image:
Max Space)
34
Max Space team demonstrating their modules at Amazon MARS 2024.
(Image: Max Space)
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Tech Briefs, July 2024
Expandable habitat concept. Background Image: Max Space
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Tech Briefs Magazine - July 2024

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