The startup has unveiled plans to develop inflatable modules that it says can be made larger and cheaper than alternatives to support commercial space stations and other applications. Max Space is developing a series of expandable modules, the first of which is planned to be launched during a SpaceX joint mission in 2025. Compressed into a two cubic meter volume for launch, this Max Space 20 module will expand to 20 cubic meters once deployed, making it the largest expandable module ever flown.

Max Space co-founder and CEO Aaron Kemmer said in an interview that his interest in expandable modules stemmed from his experience at space manufacturing company Made In Space, which produces 3D printers used on the International Space Station.

“When we tried to do something meaningful, we always ran into a bottleneck,” he said, citing the example of populating a system to produce high-quality optical fiber that spans three floors in a standard ISS on Earth. cupboard. “The hardest thing was not to make it work in space. The hardest thing was to make it work in limited quantities.”

The concept of extensible modules is not new. This technology was central to the plans of the former Bigelow Aerospace company, which launched the Genesis 1 and 2 spacecraft and built the Bigelow Extensible Activity Module (BEAM) currently aboard the ISS. Recently, companies like Lockheed Martin and Sierra Space have tested inflatable modules on the ground but have yet to fly.

Max Space takes a different technical approach than previous systems, which used a bi-directional “basket weave” fabric structure. “When you start moving the fibers 90 degrees apart going in two different directions, the end result is you don’t know how far the load goes in one direction or the other,” said Max co-founder and CTO Maxime de Jong. Space, whose past work includes the development of Genesis 1 and 2.

This requires additional materials to provide a sufficient margin of safety and also makes it difficult to scale projects to larger volumes. “Any scale-up is a point project and needs to be re-examined,” he said.

Max Space is developing a technology de Jong created called the ultra-high-performance ship, which distributes payload in one direction; a design he calls “a completely accidental discovery” while working on other concepts. This reduces the uncertainty of safety margins shown in tests where modules burst at pressures within 10% of the predicted level. “Predictability is great and scalability is great,” he said.

The company built a version of the Max Space 20 module to test and recently presented it at the MARS conference hosted by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. The company is currently working on a flying version that includes improvements such as debris protection.

The scalability offered by this design will allow Max Space to quickly transition to larger modules of 100 to 1,000 cubic meters (the latter roughly equivalent to the volume of the entire ISS) later this decade. “Our big and exciting goal is to launch the equivalent in volume of a space station in a single Falcon launch,” Kemmer said, and the cost of such a module would be only $200 million.

The obvious application of such modules is for future commercial space stations. “Space station modules are difficult and expensive to build, limiting many interesting space applications such as space manufacturing, life sciences and pharmaceuticals,” he said. “We want to show that you can do this cheaply.”

But the company’s first modules can also be used for other applications. The first customers for the modules will likely be government agencies interested in using the modules as space fuel tanks or other storage facilities, Kemmer said. “It’s definitely not our approach to rush in and get people in first.”

Max Space has no plans to build its own station but instead will be a supplier to other companies developing commercial space stations through NASA’s Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development, or CLD, program. “We see our path to success as working with many of the other CLD companies and module suppliers,” he said.

This focus on the development of modular technology includes contracts for items such as life support systems, as well as the bus that provides power and propulsion. “We are focused on our core technologies and improving them,” he said.

The company has raised a seed round that Kemmer describes as “less than $10 million” that will fund the development and co-launch of the first Max Space 20 module. The company has less than a dozen employees, and we don’t expect much growth once the first module is released. “Part of our approach is to demonstrate this inexpensively and especially with a small team,” he said.

Max Space’s founders say this will allow them to gradually expand both the company and the modules. “We have a very good chance of making this happen by taking one step at a time,” De Jong said.