NanoRacks

NanoRacks
Industry Aerospace
Founded 2008
Number of locations
 3
Key people
 Jeffrey Manber, Mike Johnson, Richard Pournelle
Services in-space lab services; small satellite launch services
Number of employees
 approximately 24[1]
Website nanoracks.com

NanoRacks is a private company that provides standard rack-mounted laboratory facilities and micro-gravity space access to commercial customers at the International Space Station (ISS)).[2]

History

NanoRacks was founded in 2008 by Jeffrey Manber and Michael Johnson.[3] They worked with NASA to contract for laboratory research space on the ISS but did not request NASA funding for their work. NanoRacks signed a contract with NASA in September 2009 and had their first laboratory on the Space Station in April 2010.[4]

Since 2010 NanoRacks has designed and built all 36 of the modular labs for the U.S. National Laboratory on the Space Station. As of February 2013, it had flown 70 payloads to the ISS and was contracted to fly 80 additional payloads.[2]

In 2012, NanoRacks "generated more than $3 million in revenue, of which only one-quarter comes from NASA. Other customers include European and Saudi space agencies, universities in the U.K. and Vietnam," and a variety of commercial companies and private interests.[2]

As of March 2014, NanoRacks has placed over 30 small satellites into low-Earth orbit (LEO), with 50 more under contract and MOUs in place for 100 more. The largest planned satellite under contract is 53 kg (117 lb). A total of 60–80 satellite deployments are projected for 2014.[1]

Financial analysts who follow the NewSpace industry place NanoRacks in the space infrastructure industry segment: companies that generate data or deliver services for their customers.[5]

NanoRacks is a sponsor of the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program, along with the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE) and the Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Space Education.[6]

Facilities and labs

Low-Earth orbit facilities

NanoRacks facilities on the International Space Station (ISS) include:

Lab space on the ISS is provided to NanoRacks by NASA under a contractual lease arrangement.[1]

On-orbit services

NanoRacks can deploy small CubeSats into orbit from the ISS through the NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer via the airlock in the Japanese Kibo module, after the satellites are transported to the ISS on a cargo spacecraft. Total cost to the customer for launch and orbital placement is approximately US$65 thousand, including payload integration services at the launch site and shepherding the payload through the regulatory process necessary to be approved for travel to, and release from, the ISS. When released, the small satellites are provided a push of about 1 meter per second (3.3 ft/s) that begins a slow process of satellite separation from the ISS.[1]

Offices

NanoRacks has offices in Houston, Texas and Washington, D.C., and as of March 2014 has over twenty employees.[1]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Foust, Jeff (2014-03-24). "Making the most of the ISS". The Space Review 2014. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Knapp, Alex (2013-03-04). "The Space Station Is The Final Frontier Of Bio Research". Forbes. Retrieved 2013-02-18.
  3. ↑ "Our History". NanoRacks. Retrieved 2013-02-18.
  4. ↑ "NanoRacks Is Making Space Science Affordable For Everyone". Forbes. 2011-11-21. Retrieved 2013-02-25.
  5. ↑ "That "NewSpace Moment": Silicon Valley Redux". Big Think. 2012-06-27. Retrieved 2013-02-18.
  6. ↑ "Student Spaceflight Experiments Program". ncesse.org. National Center for Earth and Space Science Education. October 30, 2012.
  7. ↑ "NanoRacks Microscopes". ISS Payloads Office Fact Sheet. NASA. Retrieved 2013-02-18.
  8. ↑ "NanoRacks Platforms". ISS Payloads Office Fact Sheet. NASA. Retrieved 2013-02-18.

External links