Sierra Space and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) have signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that outlines plans for Sierra Space and MHI to collaborate on a wide range of technologies regarding the development of Orbital Reef, a commercially developed, owned and operated space station to be built in lLEO by investors Sierra Space and Blue Origin.
Sierra Space and MHI have commenced work on incorporating MHI expertise in the development of Orbital Reef, bringing in technologies and expertise from MHI’s years of experience with the International Space Station (ISS) program.
“At Sierra Space we are building a platform in space to benefit life on Earth,” said Tom Vice, Sierra Space CEO. “We are proud to formalize a long-standing relationship with MHI and look forward to leveraging its considerable technological expertise, as we continue building Orbital Reef and the next generation of space transportation.”
“MHI is very excited to collaborate with Sierra Space and use MHI’s technologies and experience earned over years to contribute to the development of Orbital Reef, the program led by Sierra Space, Blue Origin and their international partners,” said Tomoe Nishigaya, Vice President and Senior General Manager of Space Systems at MHI. “We look forward to further collaboration with Sierra Space as to how MHI’s technologies, products and services may provide better experience for users and customers of the space station. Additionally, MHI plans to cooperate with JAXA and other aerospace companies in Japan, leveraging strong relationships built through participation to the ISS program.”