Conceptual Design of a Human Spaceflight Platform as ISS successor

摘要

With the end of operation of the International Space Station ISS coming up within the next twelve years it is time to think about a successor station to preserve long-duration human presence in space. According to the global exploration roadmap, opportunities for commercial or international platforms are an option to be considered for low-earth orbit. Looking at the lunar vicinity, "Human-Scale, Human-Enabled" platforms are suggested starting from 2020. In order to evaluate different possibilities, the Stuttgart Space Station Design Workshop 2016 was hosted at the Institute of Space Systems (IRS) at the University of Stuttgart. Within the one-week challenge, two teams composed of international students and young space professionals, supported by experts coming from industries and universities, developed a conceptual design for a next space station, based on a mission statement addressing the topic of lunar resource utilization and on-orbit manufacturing starting in 2025. During the workshop the students pursued the design approach of concurrent engineering in an interdisciplinary manner, discussing not only space engineering issues but also including e.g. financial, programmatic and interior design aspects. The resulting conceptual designs include outreach strategies, cost and risk analysis, mission analysis and specifications of all subsystems relevant for the next space station. The results of the competing teams, which show significant differences as the document will state, are evaluated, concluded and presented in this paper.