Space Policy Edition: What's going on with commercial space stations? episode artwork

EPISODE · Jul 3, 2026 · 57 MIN

Space Policy Edition: What's going on with commercial space stations?

from Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and Science · host The Planetary Society

NASA's plan for what comes after the International Space Station (ISS) has been anything but stable. Since 2019, the agency's commercial space station strategy has shifted from free-flying vendor-operated stations to a government-owned module attached to the ISS, and back again, all while the clock ticks toward the ISS's expected retirement around 2030.  Clayton Swope, deputy director of the Aerospace Security Project and senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, joins Planetary Society Chief of Space Policy Casey Dreier to unpack this saga and weigh whether NASA can realistically select and fund a commercial successor to the ISS in time. Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/commercial-space-stationsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Clayton Swope, deputy director of the Aerospace Security Project and senior fellow at CSIS, joins the show to break down NASA's rocky path toward a commercial replacement for the International Space Station.

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Space Policy Edition: What's going on with commercial space stations?

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This episode was published on July 3, 2026.

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NASA's plan for what comes after the International Space Station (ISS) has been anything but stable. Since 2019, the agency's commercial space station strategy has shifted from free-flying vendor-operated stations to a government-owned module...

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