Sierra Space, a commercial space company developing spaceplanes and inflatable habitats, completed its first successful Ultimate Burst Pressure (UBP) test for the Large Inflatable Flexible Environment (LIFE) habitat.

The test employed a one-third scale of Sierra Space's LIFE inflatable habitat which burst at 192 pound-force per square inch (psi) above the safety threshold of 182.4 psi. It is the first of two sub-scale burst tests slated for 2022 in support of Sierra Space's softgoods certification making it amongst the highest publicly released data points for a softgoods UBP test at any scale.

Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships-2 (NextSTEP-2) sponsored the test while NASA softgoods subject matter experts and ILC Dover collaborated on the test.

Analyst QuickTake: In addition to other future missions, the LIFE habitat will be used as both a habitation and a payload element for the Orbital Reef commercial space station, which is a collaboration between Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Sierra Space. The Orbital Reef is designed to develop a commercially owned and operated space station in low earth orbit, which recently advanced to the design phase . The LIFE habitat is an expandable system made up of a series of softgoods layers that deploy to an expandable volume usable in space under pressure. Vectran fabric weave, which is tougher than steel and robust enough to endure the internal pressure necessary for the crew to live and work comfortably for lengthy periods of time, serves as the soft goods' inner pressure shell layer. The soft goods' outer layers are designed for orbital debris and thermal protection. The LIFE habitat is launched on a conventional rocket, expands into a substantial three-story structure that is 27 feet in diameter once in orbit, and has the ability to support crews of 4–12, depending on the mission. The three floors include lab space, a kitchen, sleeping quarters, and a garden that has the ability to grow fresh produce and plants.