2022 International Space Station National Laboratory Annual Report Highlights Successful Year

In fiscal year 2022 (FY22), the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory made great strides in its mission to return value to the nation and enable a sustainable economy in low Earth orbit.

This year’s successes are highlighted in the ISS National Lab Annual Report for FY22 (October 1, 2021, through September 30, 2022), which has been released by the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, Inc. (CASIS).

CASIS has served as manager of the ISS National Lab for 11 years through a Cooperative Agreement with NASA. During FY22, NASA extended its Cooperative Agreement with CASIS to manage the ISS National Lab through 2027.

After 20 years of continuous human presence on the space station, we are now in the decade of ISS results, and FY22 was a record-setting year in terms of results stemming from ISS National Lab-sponsored research and development (R&D):

• Nearly 50 peer-reviewed articles related to ISS National Lab-sponsored research were published in FY22—the highest number ever identified in a fiscal year. Close to 70 percent of these publications were related to fundamental science funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), building a solid knowledge base to enable future applied R&D.
• Two patents were granted to companies related to their space-based research, and four commercial products were created from ISS National Lab-sponsored R&D. One of these products, the virtual reality exhibit “ISS Experience: The Infinite,” has already attracted more than 170,000 viewers as it traveled to multiple U.S. cities.

Additional ISS National Lab FY22 successes include:

• This year, 75 ISS National Lab-sponsored payloads launched to station, 85 percent of which represented research from commercial entities—underscoring the continued strong demand for space-based R&D among industry users.
• The ISS National Lab selected 46 new projects in FY22, 60 percent of which were from new-to-space users, demonstrating the success of ISS National Lab research solicitations in reaching new communities.
• The all-time cumulative amount of capital raised by startups following flight of ISS National Lab-sponsored projects reached more than $1.8 billion. To date, CASIS has facilitated more than 1,200 capital introductions between startups and investors in the ISS National Lab network.
• In FY22, more than 9.5 million people participated in ISS National Lab educational partner programs.

“It is only through strong partnerships that we collectively find new and innovative ways to use the ISS to solve problems and generate solutions for humankind,” said Ramon Lugo, CEO of CASIS. “We continue to work closely with NASA, our research and technology development community, and commercial partners to create new opportunities to impact humanity.”

These are only a few highlights outlined in the FY22 Annual Report, now available online.

About the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory: The International Space Station (ISS) is a one-of-a-kind laboratory that enables research and technology development not possible on Earth. As a public service enterprise, the ISS National Lab allows researchers to leverage this multiuser facility to improve life on Earth, mature space-based business models, advance science literacy in the future workforce, and expand a sustainable and scalable market in low Earth orbit. Through this orbiting national laboratory, research resources on the ISS are available to support non-NASA science, technology and education initiatives from U.S. government agencies, academic institutions, and the private sector. The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) manages the ISS National Lab, under cooperative agreement with NASA, facilitating access to its permanent microgravity research environment, a powerful vantage point in low Earth orbit, and the extreme and varied conditions of space. To learn more about the ISS National Lab, visit www.ISSNationalLab.org.