As the private sector gets invested in space with in-construction Space Hotels and Space Movie Studios, the world is in dire need of more astronauts. Enter Star Harbour Academy, a new facility to train the next generation of astronauts.
What is Star Harbour Academy?
Via Singularity Hub, Star Harbour Academy is a new $120 million training facility for private sector astronauts. Located in Colorado, the new academy is hoping to be the prime location for training SpaceX, Blue Origin and other companies’ astronauts.
Built upon a 53-acre plot in Lone Tree, Colorado, the training facility aims to offer a range of modules for students. This includes: “microgravity flights, a neutral buoyancy facility, a high-gravity centrifuge, land-based and underwater habitats, hypobaric and hyperbaric chambers, and a human performance center.”
As the first astronaut school available to the public, Star Harbour may end up becoming an integral part of the ongoing space resurgence. However, the facility is far from opening day.
Read More: Moon Soil successfully grows Earth plants for the first time in history
When will Star Harbour Space Academy launch?
The new space academy isn’t expected to open until 2026 at the earliest. Preparing for the massive space expansion at the start of the 2030s, the Academy may have enough time to train the first batch of private astronauts before the next generation of space missions kicks off.
With companies like SpaceX already planning to take humans to Mars in the 2030s, the space industry will be more competitive than ever. Hopefully, the academy will train astronauts do the same degree that NASA did in the late 60s.
"There is an unprecedented renaissance occurring within the Space industry today,” said CEO Maraia Tanner. “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 Final Frontier?
With space exploration kicking off properly for the first time, humanity is quickly reaching out towards the “final frontier”. While there is a lot of space on Earth still undiscovered — such as the ocean depths — the expansive cosmos has always been a dream of humanity.
Perhaps, in the decades to come, as space behind the be populated, more of Earth will be explored. However, landing on a new planet will always be far more exciting.