Orbital Reef
Overview
Commercial space station project co-led by Blue Origin and Sierra Space, with partners, as a mixed-use 'business park in space' for research, industrial, international, and commercial customers in low Earth orbit, built around Sierra Space's inflatable LIFE habitat. It is the slowest-advancing of the four major US commercial-station programs and remains Blue Origin's bid for NASA's Commercial LEO Destinations Phase 2 competition (draft RFP released July 6, 2026).
System Definition Review with NASA complete; design-development progress continues, but overall pace lags Axiom, Vast, and Starlab. Sierra Space is pursuing a standalone LIFE pathfinder habitat module, targeted for launch as soon as late 2026, as a nearer-term proof point independent of the full Orbital Reef station.