Max Space reinvents expandable habitats with a 17th-century twist, launching in 2026 | TechCrunch

Max Space's expandable habitats promise to be larger, stronger, and more versatile than anything like them ever launched.

Despite their balloon-like looks, they are, like their predecessors, quite resilient to the many and various perils of space.

Max Space ’s breakout moment for this type of in-space structure is due to arrive any year now.

The shape taken by the balloon essentially redirects the forces acting on it so that pressure only pulls in one direction: away from where the two halves connect.

By forming Bernoulli ’s shape (called an isotensoid) out of cords, or “tendons,” every problem with expandables more or less solves itself.

With the pressurized structure so reliable, it can be skinned with flight-tested materials already used to insulate, block radiation and so on.

Max Space is a startup built specifically to commercialize the new approach to space.

Their first mission will launch in 2026 aboard a SpaceX rideshare vehicle.

The name is both a reference to having more space in space, and a tribute to (Maxim) De Jong , whom Kemmer thought deserved more recognition.