A group of astronauts, engineers, and entrepreneurs have collaborated to make the world’s first private space academy.
This year has been teeming with space launches and more are expected to come soon. More space agencies and personnel will be required to make it possible.
A new venture called Star Harbor Academy aims to fill that gap in the market with a $120 million facility designed to train the private astronauts of the future.
“There is an unprecedented renaissance occurring within the space industry today,” CEO Maraia Tanner said in a press release. “We have the opportunity to foster a new generation of explorers, innovators, entrepreneurs, educators, and technologies to leave a powerful, positive legacy for generations to come.”
The company has ex-astronauts, former NASA officials, and leading aerospace executives on board. Its new facility will be built on a 53-acre plot in Lone Tree, Colorado, just south of Denver, and will open in 2026.
It will have microgravity flights, a neutral buoyancy facility, a high-gravity centrifuge, land-based and underwater habitats, hypobaric and hyperbaric chambers, and a human performance center.
It will also provide facilities for companies that want to test out their technology in realistic spaceflight conditions before they launch.
At present, there are only six government-sponsored space R&D centers around the world, and none of these are open to the public which limits innovation in space technology. It will lower the barrier to entry into the space economy.
At present, the company is planning to offer separate courses for operators, users, mission specialists, and passengers.
