Space station mass per person

Imagine we build a space station much larger than the ISS with more or less today's technology. (For example in a scenario in which price of transport to orbit per kg is significantly reduced by technological progress.) The design of the station might look approximately like the Space Station V from the Kubrick/Clarke's 2001: Space Oddysey, but the dimensions may be different.

My question is: if the station should serve as modest and more or less permanent settlement for N people, how big does it need to be and (maybe even more importantly) how heavy does it need to be?

Assume we are really trying to use light materials for construction, because mass is very limiting factor in space. The station does not need to be self-sustainable, food would be transported from Earth.

posted almost 10 years ago

Irigi‭

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