A number of private-sector companies are aiming to harbor commercial activities in low Earth orbit (LEO) as the International Space Station approaches its end of service. This article discusses the various projects, with a focus on Blue Origin's Orbital Reef program, which recently aced testing milestones for its critical life support system with assistance from NASA. Orbital Reef plans to build a space habitat with NASA as a main client starting out, with a wider goal of fostering a sustainable commercial presence in LEO. The initiative is backed by NASA's Commercial LEO Destinations program, which is providing funding to encourage the private sector to build space habitats.

The second stage of Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket underwent a successful hot-fire test on Monday. This was the first time Blue Origin integrated and fired an orbital rocket stage. Blue Origin is tracking toward a November launch of its New Glenn rocket. Standing at 320 feet tall, New Glenn still has many potential issues that could delay its schedule, for example, a hurricane is likely to graze Florida's space coast later this week.