There were issues about making the large volumes habitable. A crewed SpaceX Starship will start off as a human habitable building block.
The old shuttle ET (external tank) designs imagined magnetically coupling the units end to end or side to side.
Above is a 14 tank station design. Twelve around the outside and two in the center
More powerful Raptor engines would enable SpaceX to send up Starships that were longer and had more internal volume.
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Here is how SLS can revive ET type stations
https://www.thespaceshow.com/show/14-dec-2021/broadcast-3801-gene-meyers
This reminds me of Deep Space 9 station in star trek series.
You have to have a longer axel and supporting spokes attached to the ends and expansion structures/joints. Why?
Consider structural stress when changing orbit to quickly to avoid wayward satellites or debris. Then there’s the harmonic wobble. The stresses as well as the strain on the spokes. The spokes resemble levers magnifying forces like torque or angular momentum. The constantly changing length of all the parts due to temperature changes.
I can’t agree with you here. ETs were strong…no windows
Hi
We would like to interview you for our days on Space Debris.
Thanks