Spacex is building Starship, and is very focused on Mars. It also is working towards the NASA Moon project, Starlink, and other revenue-producing projects. However it is not at all talking about space stations.
I am excited by space stations, and I think I see a great opportunity with Starship. I see people talking about using a Starship as a space station, but I wonder if the Starship construction techniques can be used instead.
My idea is to launch a welding robot to space, and to supply it with rolls of steel, to build tubes directly in space. Tubes inside tubes would provide protection against small meteorites. Tubes inside tubes filled with water would provide protection against radiation. Tubes linked together eventually become a circle that could be spun to provide artificial gravity.
Spacex is leaving a big door open here, there is a huge opportunity for the first actor once Starship becomes operational. I’m surprised that some of SpaceX’s competitors haven’t started trying to claim leadership.
