NanoRacks Receives NASA Johnson Space Center’s Small Business Prime Contractor of the Year Award
NanoRacks LLC has received NASA Johnson Space Center’s 2016 Small Business Prime Contractor of the Year award for the Company’s contributions and outstanding support in the form of hardware and services to the U.S. National Laboratory onboard the International Space Station.
“We are very honored to receive this award from our friends at Johnson Space Center,” says NanoRacks CEO Jeffrey Manber. “We are confident that the future in low-Earth orbit is commercial, and the first step in that journey is the commercial utilization of the Space Station. Every day the growing team at NanoRacks works to fulfill this mission and create exceptional space hardware and services for all of our customers—from educational to industry, and to government.”
NanoRacks has a strong relationship with NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC), with the Company’s headquarters just across the street in Webster, Texas. With the International Space Station as NanoRacks’ prime platform, having close proximity to the team at JSC is crucial for day-to-day operations. The robust relationship with JSC has allowed NanoRacks to grow from initially providing research racks inside the U.S. National Labs, to creating plug-and-play research platforms, to being a leading provider of small satellite deployments in low-Earth orbit, and now to the building of the first-ever private airlock on Station. All with private capital working in partnership with NASA and the other space station partners.
“Over seven years we have self-invested what is now close to $25 million in providing hardware and services for space station customers,” explained Manber. “We believe this is the future pathway for low-earth orbit (LEO) and beyond, that NASA will be a customer and the private sector must share in the costs and the risks, just like with any business on the ground.”
Earlier this February, NanoRacks announced that Boeing has joined as a partner in the building of the first-ever private airlock on the International Space Station. The NanoRacks Airlock Module is a critical step towards the transition to a more commercial ISS, with the potential to increase user capacity and the customer base.
The goal for NanoRacks is to operate its own fleet of private space stations; both manned and unmanned. Those first steps are being taken in NASA’s award to the NanoRacks led IXION team to study re-use of in-space hardware for commercial habitats. Other team members are Loral and ULA.
“Who knows?” jokes Manber. “Maybe in 2020 we will be awarded NASA’s Prime Business Contractor Award!”
To learn more about NanoRacks and our journey into space, please email info@nanoracks.com. Be sure to follow NanoRacks on Twitter and Facebook for continued updates about Airlock and our other commercial ventures.
