The commercial space race just hit a new frontier: safety drills. Sources confirm that a private orbital facility, operated by a leading space tourism company, conducted the first emergency evacuation exercise in low Earth orbit last week. The drill, which involved 12 passengers and 4 crew members, simulated a sudden depressurisation event.
Participants donned emergency suits and transferred to a lifeboat capsule in under 90 seconds. Company documents, leaked to this desk, reveal the exercise was mandatory before the next tourist flight, scheduled for Q3. Critics argue the drill is a publicity stunt to distract from unresolved issues: the facility's life support systems have had three near-failure incidents in the past year.
The company declined to comment on those failures. One source inside the operation told me: 'They're more worried about the share price than about us. This drill?
It's a show for the investors.' The truth is, you don't run simulations unless you're expecting something real to go wrong. The question is: what else aren't they telling us?
