Talk:Orbital Assembly Corporation

Orbital Assembly Corporation
anybody else find it bizarre that a company with the resources to be building a massive space station in the next 4 years doesn't even have a wiki page, or basically any citable information other than their own press releases. The whole thing has the smell of a fantasy project trolling for investors. Gjxj (talk) 15:41, 6 March 2021 (UTC)
 * I recently stumbled into this article after seeing a CNN article on this "Voyager Station". The circumstances are weird with it.  Should we draftify the article until real information comes out? Elijahandskip (talk) 15:55, 6 March 2021 (UTC)
 * I today found out about this and I find it pretty bizarre. I think this should go out until more info comes. It could be just a scam or attention seeking.109.93.20.87 (talk) 05:17, 18 March 2021 (UTC)
 * The Washington Post is a reliable source, so there is no justification for draftification. Beyond My Ken (talk) 13:35, 18 March 2021 (UTC)


 * Voyager Station was previously called Von Braun station by the Gateway Foundation. - Rod57 (talk) 20:07, 29 October 2021 (UTC)
 * It doesn't have the smell of trolling, it has the stench of a scam.
 * And GTFO with your bullshit "reliable source". You can find lots of older articles in "reliable sources" gushing over Theranos, just for one example (I'm pretty sure the WP is among those)… "reliable" my ass. --jae (talk) 05:15, 22 May 2022 (UTC)

"Controversies" section
This section lacks citations to any reliable sources that support controversies around the proposed station. The section as written and sourced appears to be original research with synthesis of sources that don't even mention Voyager Station. Unless someone can find sources that discuss Voyager Station specifically, that content should be removed. Schazjmd  (talk)  23:20, 28 May 2022 (UTC)
 * Pinging, who wrote that entire section. Schazjmd   (talk)  23:25, 28 May 2022 (UTC)
 * Since Unikaaq hasn't been active in a few weeks, I'm removing the section for now. Schazjmd   (talk)  00:13, 29 May 2022 (UTC)

Has this space station been fully financed yet? If not, then isn't that another controversy? • Sbmeirow  •  Talk  • 03:38, 29 May 2022 (UTC)

Notes about Orbital Assembly from primary sources
Not sure if any of this will end up in the article, but in any case, we need to know what sort of thing this is so that we can figure out whether to keep the article.

The 2021 annual report might not be an independent source, but it's more fact-based than the uncritical churnalism we're currently citing:


 * Number of employees: 7
 * Revenue was raised by crowdfunding, selling stock through Netcapital. Netcapital remains the custodian for those shares.
 * $315k cash and cash-equivalent assets, $1.3M annual expenditure. Insignificant income.

The Netcapital page has more information.


 * Revenue raising is currently in progress, the current round having raised $111,054.
 * This page is again much better than the news sources in terms of its basis in fact. It says: "with planned initial operation as soon as 2026 contingent on funding", the last three words being an important caveat. Compare WaPo "on track to begin construction on the world’s (er, galaxy’s) first space hotel by 2026."

My inclination is to move the page to Orbital Assembly so that we can have sections for crowdfunding, Voyager and Pioneer. I think we should remove the fictional timelines (things that our article says will happen in 2025, 2026 and 2027). Focus on the designs and the funding gap. -- Tim Starling (talk) 04:27, 28 January 2023 (UTC)

Common Sense Skeptic video series
"Orbital Disassembly" Pt1, Pt2, Pt3. Notes:


 * Staff members have multiple active positions on LinkedIn so it's unlikely the amount of work going into this is as much as 7 FTE.
 * With the possible exception of Tom Spilker, staff members do not have space industry experience.
 * Pt2 27:30 Gateway Foundation raised money while not being incorporated, it was a sole proprietorship of John Blincow. Gateway Foundation had the same PO box mailing address and the same phone number as Orbital Assembly.
 * Pt2 31:05 Gateway Foundation previously published an estimated a cost of $60B for the Von Braun Space Hotel, which is essentially identical to Voyager Station.
 * Wikipedia is cited as a resource for tracking down the previous activities of the executives. Even constrained by sourcing guidelines, I think we can provide a benefit to our readers by covering this topic.

Tim Starling (talk) 00:56, 29 January 2023 (UTC)


 * I've taken a first cut of revising the article accordingly. I'm tempted to just AFD the whole thing, but vaporware or not, they have achieved substantial coverage in reliable if uncritical sources. Jpatokal (talk) 06:34, 10 January 2024 (UTC)
 * hello
 * i have edited and removed most of the vaporware coming from this "firm" that spammed Rotating wheel space station article. At that time this firm didn't really exist.
 * I think AFD is the best solution. This article is nothing than a advertising to invest in some inexistent research ... So a scam.
 * NOTE: Their object (some concept of rotating wheel space station) is a theoretical ship for which NASA doesn't have all the needed the technology available yet (there is a technology readiness chart somewhere on W). Also the budget for such feat should be many many more times bigger than the ISS (just to launch thousands of tons of shipment to assemble in space is a dream ).
 * cheers Rarespa (talk) 02:31, 13 February 2024 (UTC)

heyyyy.
i feel like they will need more time then 2027 because they have to test it and see how will people get up there and stuff 50.220.154.206 (talk) 15:41, 7 May 2024 (UTC)