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Hello, I'm Dana Taylor, and this is a special episode of USA Today's The Excerpt.

Thank you. And this is a special episode of USA Today's The Excerpt. Living, working, even vacationing off the world is no longer a distant concept.

We're approaching a time when humans aren't just visitors to outer space, but could become

residents. With the International Space Station set to retire by the end of 2030, private

companies are racing to replace it. As space travel and space mining move from science fiction

to becoming everyday realities, how do we balance access, ambition, and accountability in the next space

race?

Joining me now to discuss those topics and more is Namratta Kaswami, Professor of Space

Security at Johns Hopkins University.

Thanks for joining me of Namrata.

Thank you for having me.

It's a real pleasure. Before we

continue, I have to give a disclaimer. Everything I say today is my own perspective and does not

represent the perspective of the U.S. Space Force, the Air Force, or the Department of Defense.

What can you share with us regarding some of the private stations currently being worked on

to inhabit low Earth orbit?

There are actually several private stations that are being built to inhabit low Earth orbit.

One is, of course, Oxium Space that is building a private space station under NASA's commercial low Earth orbit destinations.

And so that is going to be functional

between the year 2028 and 2030, especially because the international space station is going to be

...