---
type: source
title: "Starlab Books $90M Starship Contract for Single-Launch Commercial Station Deployment"
author: "CNBC / Basenor / Voyager Technologies 10-K"
url: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/31/voyager-and-airbus-to-launch-commercial-space-station-on-a-spacex-starship-rocket.html
date: 2024-01-31
domain: space-development
secondary_domains: []
format: article
status: processed
priority: high
tags: [commercial-stations, Starlab, Starship, Voyager, Airbus, launch-architecture, ISS-replacement]
---

## Content

Voyager Technologies confirmed a $90 million Starship launch contract with SpaceX to deploy Starlab commercial space station no earlier than 2028. The contract value appeared in Voyager's 10-K annual report filing — the first time the figure was publicly disclosed.

Starlab architecture: unusually ambitious. The entire station will be deployed fully outfitted in a SINGLE Starship flight directly to LEO — no orbital assembly over multiple launches. This requires Starship's full payload capacity (~100 tonnes to LEO at target performance) and assumes Starship operational maturity by 2028.

Starlab partnership: Voyager Technologies (prime) + Airbus (major partner) + Mitsubishi Corporation + MDA Space + Palantir Technologies + Northrop Grumman.

Total projected development cost: $2.8 billion to $3.3 billion.
NASA funding received (Phase 1 CLD): $217.5 million + $15M from Texas Space Commission.

February 2026 milestone: Starlab completed its Commercial Critical Design Review (CCDR) with NASA, moving into full-scale development. A critical design review (CDR) is expected in 2026.

The "ISS deadline" creates urgency: Starlab needs to be in orbit before ISS deorbits (~2031), creating a hard timeline constraint that is contractual and geopolitical.

## Agent Notes
**Why this matters:** Starlab's single-launch architecture is a direct bet on Starship achieving operational maturity. At $90M for the launch (vs. $2.8-3.3B total development), launch cost is NOT the binding constraint — Starship operational readiness is. If Starship slips significantly (Flight 12 now targeting late April 2026, full operations may be years away), Starlab faces a hard conflict between its 2028 launch target and the 2031 ISS deorbit deadline.

**What surprised me:** The $90M launch price for a full station deployment is remarkably cheap relative to total development cost (~3% of total). This confirms that for large space infrastructure, launch cost has become a small fraction of total cost — development, system integration, and operations dominate. This is a direct data point against the "launch cost is the keystone variable" framing for this specific use case.

**What I expected but didn't find:** Any contingency plan if Starship isn't ready. A single-launch architecture with a 2031 hard deadline and a 2028 target launch means there's approximately 3 years of schedule margin — but Starship's operational readiness for commercial payloads of this complexity is untested.

**KB connections:**
- [[Starship achieving routine operations at sub-100 dollars per kg is the single largest enabling condition for the entire space industrial economy]] — Starlab depends on Starship routine operations, not just sub-$100/kg cost
- [[commercial space stations are the next infrastructure bet as ISS retirement creates a void that 4 companies are racing to fill by 2030]] — Starlab's approach: bet everything on a single Starship deployment
- [[SpaceX vertical integration across launch broadband and manufacturing creates compounding cost advantages that no competitor can replicate piecemeal]] — Starlab buying Starship launches is evidence that SpaceX's vertical integration is winning the launch market even for billion-dollar programs

**Extraction hints:**
1. "For large-scale commercial space infrastructure, launch cost represents ~3% of total development cost, making Starship's operational readiness — not its price — the binding constraint"
2. "Starlab's single-launch architecture represents a bet on Starship operational maturity by 2028, with the ISS deorbit timeline as a hard backstop that makes this a non-optional commitment"

**Context:** Voyager Technologies went public (NYSE: VOYG) and filed the 10-K that disclosed the $90M Starship contract. Voyager's Starlab is arguably the most ambitious commercial station architecture — fully integrated, single launch, ISS replacement functionality. The Airbus partnership brings European heritage on ISS modules. Palantir brings data/AI for operations. The partnership structure suggests Starlab is designed for institutional (NASA + defense + research) customers.

## Curator Notes
PRIMARY CONNECTION: [[Starship achieving routine operations at sub-100 dollars per kg is the single largest enabling condition for the entire space industrial economy]]
WHY ARCHIVED: Starlab's $90M launch vs. $3B total development reveals that for large infrastructure, Starship's operational readiness — not its cost — is the binding launch constraint. Strong evidence for scoping Belief #1.
EXTRACTION HINT: Focus on the cost proportion insight (3% of total) and the operational readiness constraint distinction — this is important nuance for refining the keystone variable claim
