Astronaut Dale A. Gardner holds “For Sale” sign. Image: nasa.gov
Space is growing increasingly private and commercial. NASA announced the availability of the International Space Station for private rental. Chief Financial Office Jeff DeWit stated that while NASA will continue research for lunar and other explorations, the agency will also work with the private sector, in a vision that sees low-Earth orbit as a public/private economy. It’s not new: more than 50 businesses are already conducting commercial R&D aboard the International Space Station; another set of companies have installed commercial facilities on the ISS National Lab. Bookings are open to those meeting 3 criteria:
Project requirements for Booking a Space on ISS:
Project must require microgravity environment to enable development of a commercial application;
Project must have a connection to NASA’s mission;
Project must “support development of a sustainable low-Earth orbit economy.
Privately-sponsored astronauts may stay aboard iSS for up to 30 days, with 5% of crew spots open for booking. Interested in knowing more? There is a Request for Information (RFI) from NASA for enabling commercial activity in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) in its “Plan for Commercial Lower Earth Orbit Development” – deadline July 3.
Astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson aboard ISS in 2011. Image: wikimedia
International Space Station booking gives new meaning to “AirBnB” with the per night price of $35,000. Boeing and SpaceX will handle transit and related services. Space, once the realm of government engineering and science, is changing rapidly; how should the Outer Space Treaty, still restricted to nations, be updated to recognize and manage private enterprise?
NASA. “NASA Opens International Space Station to New Commercial Opportunities, Private Astronauts.”
NASA. “Plan for Commercial Lower Earth Orbit Development.” https://www.fbogov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&tab=core&id=0f19423342d628199e2b03c7bf79d11e.
Nasdaq video conference link: “Space station will open to tourists, NASA says,” by Michael Sheetz. 7 June 2019. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/07/nasa-opening-iss-to-business-including-private-astronauts-by-202.html.
Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported Licen
