April Update From Nanoracks
We wanted to bring our community up to date on everything going on here at Nanoracks. Since the COVID-19 pandemic took full force, our top priority has been the health and safety of our team. We have over 75 employees and outside consultants that are spread across Houston, Washington DC, New York, Italy, and the UAE – some of the hardest hit areas – and we’re very happy to say that as of this note, everyone on our team and their respective families remain healthy.
Our next priority is of course our customers. Nanoracks has been deemed an “essential business,” allowing us the opportunity to cautiously proceed forward with ongoing activities. Just last week, the SpaceX-20 Dragon splashed back down on Earth, allowing us to return critical science to our customers across the country. The big difference is that instead of going to university and commercial labs, the deliveries were sent to customers’ homes where they will work on analyzing their science results.
On-orbit operations remain active in our BRIDGE (our in-house Mission Control), and we are coordinating very closely with NASA and the astronaut crew office.
Being deemed essential has allowed us to (literally) keep our doors open to employees. We are abiding by all required and suggested CDC guidelines, with only critical staff, in limited quantities, present in our Houston facilities at any one time. All employees who are coming into the office are doing so voluntarily, and we are very grateful for their dedication to our in-space programs.
Importantly, our Bishop Airlock team is continuing to conduct their work in our cleanroom to ensure that we remain on schedule for launch this Fall on the SpaceX-21 mission. The Bishop Airlock is not only going to support our increasing demand of commercial customers on the Space Station, but also support NASA in critical crew activities, including moving hardware in and out of the Space Station to support EVAs, and other material needs that we hope to announce very soon!
While some of our team members are coming into our shop, the vast majority are working from home. With frequent check-ins and some unique beard-growing competitions, spirits remain high, and we can’t wait to be back in the office with our Nanoracks family soon. In the meantime, follow us for live updates on our Twitter and Instagram accounts (both @Nanoracks), where we’re showing off the #PupsOfNanoracks (and yes, other pets) that are helping to keep our team members company while we are all #AloneTogether.
Please reach out to us with any questions, ideas, or concerns you may have at info@nanoracks.com – we are here to support our space-loving community. We are still planning on a number of exciting announcements this year that we can’t wait to share with everyone – but for now, we hope that our entire community remains healthy, strong, and as creative as ever.
Sincerely,
Your Friends at Nanoracks
