Thunderbird is OMI’s Multidimensional Orbital Laboratory Developed for Max Space

Industrial design studio OMI has created a conceptual modular space station for astronautical start-up Max Space, compressing a substantial orbital structure into a single rocket payload complete with clever packaging for space-based science.

Words by: Jonathan Bell

Space stations have long served as a fantasy brief for designers of all stripes, from transportation to industrial, automotive and even architects. Something about the combination of pure function, dramatic lighting and weightless environment brings out the utopian retro-futurist in everyone, unburdened by gravity, budgets or the faintest chance of actually getting these designs into orbit.

That’s not to say that a huge amount of work and research doesn’t go into these projects. With the current kerfuffle around all things space and the investment/bubble/confusion over the astronomical stock value of the ability to shoot things into orbit, it’s surprising that there aren’t more aesthetic adventures in design for rocket science.

That’s why this concept design, the Thunderbird Space Station, by OMI studio for start-up Max Space is so interesting. Thunderbird is the orbital component of Max Space’s expandable habitat technology, an ongoing project to create Lunar, Martian and low-Earth orbit living spaces for future space missions. Working with OMI (Of My Imagination), the conceptual vision has been created in close collaboration with a number of former-Nasa astronauts with the aim of ‘reimaging the space station as a human-centred environment rather than a purely functional spacecraft’.

The stark contrast between the sleek modernity of Stanley Kubrick versus the chaotic jumble of cables and pipes that line the interior of the International Space Station is the usual example of what might happen to good intentions when harsh reality intervenes. For the OMI team, functionalism, flexibility and modularity are at the core of the Thunderbird modules.

Intended to be launched aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 medium-lift rocket, the key to the Thunderbird concept is expandability, allowing modules to be ‘opened up’ once in orbit, allowing much more orbital space to be sent up with each payload.

The circular structure makes full use of how microgravity changes perception and navigation through three-dimensional volumes. As OMI notes, this approach meant having to rethink everything from CAD software to fixtures, fittings and the alignment and orientation of equipment. In addition to quarters for a permanent crew of four (complete with private sleeping pods), the brief called for gym facilities, control centres, scientific laboratories and a communal living space, a total of eight functional areas.

Max Space is currently being funded by Nasa to explore the potential of a similarly modular approach for a lunar habitat. That’s a different challenge again to a space station, where internal divisions can be made from hard-wearing textiles, with a structural tubular framework in the laboratory space to allow equipment to be easily upgraded over time. Cable management is also part of the deal – thinking back to the ISS.

External surfaces are made from multi-layered Kevlar, light and strong with a triple safety redundancy, often exceeding Nasa’s requested standards for protection against things like micrometeoroids.

In total, there’s 350 cubic metres of living space, all of which can be packed into a single Falcon9 rocket. That’s just over a third of the size of the ISS, which according to Nasa, ‘required 36 Space Shuttle assembly flights and six Russian Proton and Soyuz rocket launches’ and is often cited as the single most expensive object ever created by humankind. That’s not the kind of record Max Space and OMI want to challenge.

‘At OMI our best work happens when challenging what is possible in transport design,’ says the studio’s Dan Window. ‘By engaging at the very start of the Thunderbird project, we were able to employ our unique expertise to create a completely novel habitat which rethinks how humans live in space. Our design language for the project is focused on creating an environment that is as functional as it is liveable.’

For Max Space co-founder and CEO Saleem Miyan, the Thunderbird platform is a ‘viable and evolutionary leap towards the future of human habitation beyond Earth the team has done a beautiful job of relieving the frustrations involved in current space habitats (privacy, small spaces, and laboratory environments), and I’d love to experience the Thunderbird station myself.’

ofmyimagination.com, @ofmyimagination, getMaxSpace.com, @getMaxSpace