Tag Archives: space travel

Polestar Kairos unifies space travel and daily commutes into one intriguing concept

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We all know that space is the next major frontier that remains to be conquered by humans, sparked by Elon’s ambitions to colonize Mars. Previously, NASA and now SpaceX are spearheading the dreams of space tourism and ultimately moving beyond planet Earth’s nurture. These developments have triggered inspiration for countless concept vehicles that envision what the future could be like.

This future-forward concept overshadows most of them with its unique idea of connecting Earth and space travel without all the strings attached. The idea is to make a seamless transition from driving on the highways to traveling beyond the stratosphere within just a few hours. Meet the Polestar Kairos, a hypertravel vehicle that comes with a normal driving mode and a space transfer mode to dock with a spacecraft that’s destined for space.

Designer: Kim Ye-rin

The front section of the hypercar, made out of reinforced lightweight material, is stronger than the fuselage of an airplane for structural integrity. Transition from the car mode to the docked spacecraft version is seamless, indicating how we could travel in space in the coming decades. Sure, it sounds like science fiction, but we are talking of a time ten years down the line when traveling to Mars would be a usual affair. This concept is based on the Polestar’s DNA and design physics, thereby explaining the industrial look.

The compatible spacecraft will be capable of docking two Kairos hypercars, transporting them to the other habitable planet in the solar system. When docked with the spacecraft, the hypercar unit transforms into an ultra-low temperature sleep chamber. This chamber is loaded with amenities for life maintenance during extended space trips. Since space travel can have a toll on mental and physical conditioning, the module is equipped to handle that too. The spacecraft will essentially be a carrier for people who want their loved ride to stay with them even beyond the limits of Earth.

From a pure four-wheeler perspective, the Kairos concept arrives at a time when Polestar is sharpening its focus on electric mobility and design-led sustainability. While the brand’s recent concepts, such as the Precept, have already charted its future direction, Kairos brings new aesthetic and experiential ideas to the table, melding dynamic proportions, refined materials. The Hypercar is low, wide, and sculpted, with crisp surfaces that emphasize tension and purity. The roofline sweeps seamlessly into the rear haunches, giving the car an almost coupe-gravity despite a potentially four-door or high-performance nature. The front face carries Polestar’s signature front “Thor’s Hammer” lighting graphic while a stubby profile reinforces a performance posture.

Inside, the Kairos concept highlights the brand’s commitment to premium yet sustainable materials. Natural-fiber composites, recycled textiles, and minimalist interfaces dominate. The cabin layout puts the driver firmly in command: clean surfaces, clear lines, and a restrained palette convey calm focus rather than techno-clutter. The floating center console, integrated display architecture, and expansive glazing underline a sense of openness and precision.

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This chair with floating backrest, ergonomic flexibility, and modular cushioning is designed for space travel

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Space Perspective offers life-changing trips to the edge of space in the world’s first carbon-neutral spaceflight. This spaceship dubbed Neptune features a breathtaking design. It’s a capsule with special UV reflective coated largest glass windows ever flown to space providing occupants an unparalleled view from the space lounge inside containing eight state-of-the-art chairs designed both for comfort and aerospace experience.

The innovative seating solution for Neptune’s passengers is visibly inspired by the lounge chairs. It seamlessly merges the luxury and comfort of the lounge chair with the safety requirements of space travel to ensure the guests have not only a comfortable seat but a safe one at that.

Designer: Of My Imagination

Dubbed Aerospace Seat SPN-01, these eight dark-blue chairs in the space lounge are lightweight, functional, and safe. While meeting travel safety standards, these chairs also provide umpteen luxury courtesy of the floating backrest, ergonomic flexibility, and modular cushioning.

These aerospace seats blend a modular pad system with adjustable cushions for ergonomic comfort. Owing to their contoured shape and arced headrest, the chairs nicely cradle their passengers during the critical phases of launch and landing. Due to their positioning (each facing outwards) in the roomy space lounge, each seat has a panoramic 360-degree view through the large capsule windows.

Whilst being designed to comfort anxious passengers in their cocooning environment, the Aerospace Seat SPN-01 is easy to repair and has adjustable features to balance comfort with functionality. Designed by @ofmyimagination the chairs are twined in pairs inside of the space capsule designed to promote conversation and foster shared experiences. The chairs are placed adjacent to each other to encourage passengers to speak with each other. Each set of chairs features a mini wooden table in between that doubles as a desk. Every chair has a storage section underneath where passengers can stow their personal belongings.

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Space elevator concept will make travel to the stars more accessible

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If you’ve watched a lot of science-fiction or future-based movies and TV series, then you’ve seen a lot of products and inventions that may seem impossible and fantastical now. But over the past decades, we’ve seen a lot of advancement in technology that some of these, especially those that were released in the 80s, have actually come true. And those that seem improbable now can actually become reality in the near and far future.

Designer: Jordan William Hughes

This conceptual design for a space elevator seems right out of a movie but it is actually based on data from existing research by physicists and engineers. If this eventually becomes a reality, space travel would become much easier and maybe even affordable. It will be a more viable alternative to the existing space travel that is currently possible with rockets. It will also save a ton of fuel that is currently being utilized.

The concept is for an asteroid in geostationary orbit to serve as the counterweight for this spaceport. The elevator will be connected to the ocean through a robust tether that will transport it from the asteroid to Earth. Drones will be able to go up and down the tether and be able to transport both cargo and people. The idea is for the space station to be more than 26,000 kilometers above Earth and then the spaceport here on our planet to be at sea-level.

The spaceport will also be a movable vessel so it can also not be limited by possible bad weather conditions. The concept art still seems to be pretty fantastical and right out of a sci-fi fantasy movie. But in the next few years, we can see if this is actually something possible.

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Space-inspired everyday products prepare us for a zero-gravity future

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Many people these days dream about living on other planets or at least inside orbiting space stations, but few actually consider how very different life would be outside the Earth’s gravity. Of course, Hollywood tends to romanticize a lot of everyday life, but as astronauts will testify, living in space, even if just to reach the Moon or Mars, is no walk in the park. Even the simplest activities like drinking water can be awkward and disorienting in zero-g, at least if you consider using Earth-bound objects to do so. That’s why this trio of designs tries to reimagine some of the most mundane products we use in daily life and transform them into objects that are ready for our space-faring future.

Designers: Subin Kim, Jagyeong Baek, Jaeyeon Lee

Most of us understand that without gravity, things tend not to stay down, but few actually envision the ramifications of that fact. Products designed on Earth naturally presume an amount of stability, and the way they are handled or controlled is limited in the same manner. For example, a lot of everyday things only have handles on one side or work in a single direction, a presumption that doesn’t make much sense or even becomes counterproductive when the objects are floating in space.

Spatio is a collection of these everyday objects that have been redesigned with zero gravity in mind. Or to put it more simply, it doesn’t make presumptions on where and how it will function, making it work both on Earth, on Mars, or in the International Space Station. Aqua, for example, is a water bottle that replaces a traditional cup that has a single handle on one side only. In contrast, this bottle has four extrusions in cardinal directions that act as handles and a cover that lets you drink by sucking rather than sipping from the lip of a mug.

Sonus is a wireless speaker that really defies the traditional design of speakers. Inspired by the moon’s spherical shape, each of the “craters” on its surface pops up a tiny omnidirectional speaker when pressed. The more units that pop out, the louder it gets, acting is an unconventional form of volume control. The important difference is that you don’t have to shift or move the speaker to one side or the other just to reach those controls.

And then there’s Lumia, a star-shaped flashlight that can shine in any direction. Simply turning the central wheel switches the direction of the light so that it works regardless of how you’re holding it. While these products were designed with space living in mind, it’s not difficult to imagine them working just as well on Terra Firma, proving that truly accessible design benefits everyone everywhere, even if they’re living in outer space.

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