Look inside the first commercial space station | Hard Reset

About the video: The race to build the first space factory is on — and this team is beating everyone to the finish line.

The international space station is getting an update, and its future iteration is not just a space station – it’s a space factory. Axiom Space is launching the first commercial space station in the next few years, which will open the door to a new era in the space economy.

To become the first commercial space station, Axiom has had to rethink everything about how we live in space. We got a tour of the space station development facility, which is … inside an abandoned retail store?

Axioms’s approach might seem scrappy, but these unassuming ingredients are coming together to make something incredible. With a series of four-week sprints, nimble mock-ups allow experienced astronauts to test out the designs they'll be relying on in space.

Follow us as we get a preview inside the future of space tech.

0:00 Welcome to Hard Reset: Axiom Space
0:28 Axiom Space is pioneering the first commercial space factory
1:06 What is the potential of manufacturing in space?
4:06 Why implement a fail-fast approach to space?
4:54 Are higher-volume space habitats possible?
8:32 How can we strike a balance of practicality vs. aesthetics in space design?
9:20 How many tools does it take to assemble and disassemble the ISS?
12:10 How can we make space suit improvements for mobility and fit issues?
17:08 How fast can this tech orbit the earth?
18:12 What is the future of space manufacturing?

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Read more of our stories on future technology:
Inventions that are fighting the rise of facial recognition technology
The technology we (or aliens) need for long-distance interstellar travel
3 emerging technologies that will give renewable energy storage a boost
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Watch our original series:

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About Freethink
No politics, no gossip, no cynics. At Freethink, we believe the daily news should inspire people to build a better world. While most media is fueled by toxic politics and negativity, we focus on solutions: the smartest people, the biggest ideas, and the most ground breaking technology shaping our future.
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[j.d.]

Can't wait for the Made in Space sticker.

[kairi]

This is the kind of stuff I find interesting, actual evidence that someday in the future, we could visit and work in space. Not just a select few.

[xxMattyIcexx]

As a previous USAF aircraft structural mechanic, that two second tidbit where the ISS astronauts slid out their tool drawers made me smile. Tool accountability is key!

[pdbsstudios]

gas station sushi: bad.
space station heart: good.

[goneskis]

Am continuously blown away by how innovative, intelligent and skilled people are. Whilst I am awed by space, I don't have any desire to go, but knowing that organs or medication that could really impact peoples lives in the future could be developed and brought to market faster is pretty awesome. 
And all CEOs should be like the Axiom Space CEO allowing people to learn through creativity, imagination, and more importantly, failure.

[gustcapilla]

4:54 now it is time for poor Johnny with his GALVANIZED SQUARE STEEL to shine lol 😅

[antonnym]

Axiom has some really good, smart out-of-box thinkers. Well done!

[torobeltran]

Nice to see how spacex inspires so many other innovative companies with the “fail fast” mentality.

[trautzz]

printing replacement organs alone is enough to make this a worthy project, but people underestimate the value of cost reduction driven innovation by the private sector, rocket labs was a great example of that and it looks like axiom will be as well.

[cheydinal]

I love how the narration sounds like it's an ad for a fun quirky city builder video game

[BipTunia_Microtonal_Cats]

I went to the Burbank Fry's a bunch. Loved it.

[huda]

The first factory in space would be an Amazon warehouse that ships minerals.

[bearlogg]

Expanding into space commercially by selling the idea that it has nothing (not even air) rather than some finite resource to exploit is genious

[ismailnyeyusof]

This was a very hopeful episode. Axiom Space seems like a great company that learns from its own mistakes to progress faster. I wonder how they are financing themselves through their learning process and reach profitability?

[formereducator]

The thing that we need to focus on while putting things in space is something that clean up all the junk that is up there already. I cannot imagine thinking about space tourism or more people being sent to space until this problem is taken care of first!

[jackflash]

Darn, I loved that store.

Next stop, raw materials from asteroids to make mega structures in space.

[rothn]

That's so weird-- I remember walking around that Fry's as a teenager and in my early 20s, first job, feeling all anxious, getting parts for school and thinking about building a new computer. I remember that floor!

[w__a__l__e]

i will give them credit they at least have physical models vrs "companies" like mars 1. but things will actually get interesting when stuff is actually physically in space.. all this aspirational stuff is nice.. but space is fucking hard, shit fails in weird way, things act in weird ways and there is debris traveling at orbital velocities all over the place, plus all of the galactic back ground radiation and radiation for the sun, plus its still super expensive to send payloads up.. i truly hope we as a species are able to over come these limitations.

[joeyboxrox]

The object is NOT to out run a bear, it's to run faster than the other astronauts.

[victor-jbhm]

what i actually like is how they are approaching this problem. someone mentioned that with innovation you get to approach a problem from several directions and that is can lead in us stumbling into many inventions. As a human being, this makes me should focus on developing capable software also..it's key in this journey.