[Wattleigh]

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/new...n-17920584.php

NASA's Super Guppy aircraft lands at Ellington Field with a former space shuttle Multi-Purpose Logistic Module called "Raffaello" on Tuesday, April 25, 2023. This pressurized module, designed to fly in the space shuttle's cargo bay, will be repurposed by Houston-based Axiom Space into a Research and Manufacturing Facility for the commercial space station that it's building.

Axiom Space

NASA's Super Guppy delivers space shuttle module for reuse on Axiom Space's commercial station

Andrea Leinfelder,
Staff writer
April 27, 2023
Updated: April 27, 2023 2:35 p.m.

NASA's Super Guppy aircraft landed Tuesday at Ellington Field in Houston with a piece of NASA history that will soon get a new life.

The plane's massive nose swung open to reveal a space shuttle Multi-Purpose Logistics Module. This pressurized module, called Raffaello, was used on four shuttle missions to transfer cargo and supplies to the International Space Station. Houston-based Axiom Space will now use it as a research and manufacturing facility for the commercial space station it's building.

"Large modules capable of withstanding the rigors of the space environment are challenging to build," Axiom Space Chief Technology Officer Matt Ondler said in a statement. "Using an existing module with flight heritage provided Axiom Space the ability to save costs and schedule."

Axiom Space is building a commercial space station, called Axiom Station, that will begin its life attached to the International Space Station. Axiom Space plans to launch its first module, an area with crew quarters and space for research and manufacturing, in late 2025. Then additional structures will be attached to that module. Eventually, they will separate from ISS and become a free-flying commercial space station.

Ondler said the upgraded Multi-Purpose Logistics Module, MPLM, should head into space by 2027 as the third module for Axiom Station.