As far as I understand it, the front-runner to build a commercial space station is Axiom Space. Their CEO is Michael T. Suffredini, who was the ISS program mana

As far as I understand it, the front-runner to build a commercial space station is Axiom Space. Their CEO is Michael T. Suffredini, who was the ISS program manager for 10 years. Given that the stated mission is to own and operate a space station -- and rent out the space inside it -- I assume they're paying particular attention to how to reduce the cost of operations. In particular, on the current ISS, it strikes me that a lot of things require spacewalks to replace parts that seem like they could have lived inside, rather than outside. Things like batteries, coolant pumps, and power regulators seem to constantly require a spacewalk to repair or replace. Even though it probably requires some extra improvements to improve safety in order to be able to put the machinery in "a utility closet" rather than outside, I assume Axiom Space Stations will be designed to be maintained from the inside, rather than the outside. I doubt that the new station will last much longer than 30 years -- but I also doubt it will cost a billion dollars a year (I mean literally) to run. https://www.axiomspace.com/team/michael-suffredini https://www.axiomspace.com/team/michael-suffredini