The International Space Station launched on November 20, 1998. After 24 years of service, the ISS announced withdrawal from the project. The ISS is set for retirement in 2030, which has left NASA to place Space Act Agreements in place. The agreements set out to develop concepts for a new orbiting lab.
Awarding nearly $100 million in funding to commercial space station partners, NASA's main objective is to have private low Earth orbit destinations.
With NASA aiming to develop multiple stations, they hope to start these projects within the decade.
NASA recently made changes to their agreements which consisted of adding milestones and also changing funding.
Director of commercial space said how the new milestones "...will help ensure we have a smooth transition...". NASA is aiming to ensure that there is no complications when the ISS retires and commercial destinations take over.
Voyager Space has received an added $57.5 million on top of the original $160 million. NASA has hopes of having a few stations created by Voyager within the next few years.