NASA's revised plans for supporting the development of commercial space stations include a 30-day demonstration mission. However, this doesn't signal a permanent move towards shorter missions, agency officials clarified during a Sept. 8 industry day.

The second phase of the Commercial Low Earth Orbit Destinations (CLD) program, called Commercial Destinations – Development and Demonstration Objectives (C3DO), will utilize Space Act Agreements to fund several companies developing commercial space station concepts. The C3DO phase will culminate in a demonstration mission involving a four-person crew spending at least 30 days aboard a commercial station.

This 30-day mission sparked speculation about a shift in NASA's approach following the International Space Station's (ISS) retirement, given the ISS's average six-month missions. A July policy directive removed the requirement for continuous four-person crews on such stations. However, Angela Hart, CLD program manager, emphasized that this doesn't represent a long-term commitment to shorter missions. “I would not say that NASA has fully shifted to monthly crew rotations,” she stated. “It is not NASA’s long-term goal to have only a one-month mission.”

Hart explained that the 30-day duration allows for thorough systems testing and research. “Thirty days is an adequate time for us to be able to test out all systems but also to provide a ‘minimum gap’ mission that would allow us to do certain science.” This "gap" refers to a potential period without a continuous US human presence in low Earth orbit (LEO) between the ISS's retirement and the operation of commercial stations. While NASA initially aimed for overlap, the focus has shifted to minimizing any such gap.

“Our development plans are not tied to the ISS lifetime or deorbit decisions, although NASA is very interested in reducing a gap, if at all possible,” Hart said. “The two are no longer tied. There isn’t a decision point that says when we have a CLD, we will end ISS.”

Brian Hughes, NASA’s chief of staff, highlighted the urgency to prevent a gap and avoid China's dominance in LEO. “We don’t want the Chinese to be the only platform in LEO,” he said, emphasizing the revised CLD strategy as a solution. “If we do that process right, and if we do it now, we should be able to prevent the gap.”

This shift has prompted companies to reassess their plans, though none have announced significant changes. Leslie Haas of Voyager Technologies, with a 65% stake in Starlab Space, stated, “We’re still going ahead as is.” They plan a critical design review in December, aiming for a 2029 launch. Representatives from Blue Origin and Vast declined to comment on the impact of NASA's revised strategy.