LEO Economic Development: Supply

LEO Economic Development: Supply

The ISSInternational Space Station National Lab continues to support the growing community of Implementation Partners (companies and organizations that offer services related to payload development) and generate demand that promotes supply-side growth of the LEO(Abbreviation: LEO) The orbit around the Earth that extends up to an altitude of 2,000 km (1,200 miles) from Earth’s surface. The International Space Station’s orbit is in LEO, at an altitude of approximately 250 miles. economy. From aerospace companies with decades of experience to new startups just getting established, these organizations continue to expand the services and capabilities offered to researchers for successful implementation of their space-based R&D.

Through an online Implementation Partner(Abbreviation: IP) Commercial companies that work with the ISS National Lab to provide services related to payload development, including the translation of ground-based science to a space-based platform. Portal, the ISS National Lab connects users with Implementation Partners that can help translate their ground-based research into flight-ready payloads. In FY23, more than 80 percent of CASIS(Abbreviation: CASIS™) The nonprofit organization that manages the ISS National Lab, which receives at least 50 percent of the U.S. research allocation on the International Space Station to facilitate research that benefits humanity (NASA manages the other 50% and focuses on research for space exploration purposes). funding was used to cover Implementation Partner costs for researchers. To enhance collaboration with Implementation Partners and identify ways to bolster supply-side economic development in LEO, the ISS National Lab continues to host bi-annual Implementation Partner workshops.

In FY23, the ISS National Lab gained two new Implementation Partners, Blue Origin and Skycorp, bringing the total number of Implementation Partners to 36 (see a full list in the Implementation Partner directory). The number dropped slightly (from 39 last year) due to several Implementation Partners being absorbed into parent companies.

Currently, there are 24 ISS National Lab commercial facilities supported by 16 Commercial Service Providers (the subset of Implementation Partners that own and operate facilities on the ISS or are developing future facilities). This number includes the addition of Blue Origin as a new Commercial Service ProviderImplementation Partners that own and operate commercial facilities for the support of research on the ISS or are developing future facilities. this year. In FY23, more than 60 percent of ISS National Lab-sponsored payloads delivered to station were projects flown through Commercial Service Provider Resource Request Forms (RRFs). This RRFThe abbreviation for Resource Request Form. RRFs are submitted to CASIS by Commercial Service Providers to request use ISS National Lab resources (launch and crew time allocation) to provide customers with access to their commercial research facilities on the space station. pathway allows Commercial Service Providers to more easily provide their customers with access to the commercial facilities they own and operate on station. See the full list of commercial facilities in Appendix A.

FY23 facility updates include an upgraded version of Redwire’s BioFabrication Facility, which is capable of printing biological tissues in space. These upgrades provide improved temperature regulation and advanced imaging. Additionally, BioServe Space Technologies completed validation of a new facility, the BioServe Centrifuge. This device can be used to separate substances of differing densities, an important capability for several fields of research.

Key Implementation Partner milestones in FY23 include the following:

• Axiom Space launched four of its astronauts on Axiom Mission 2.
• Blue Origin, Northrop Grumman, and Sierra Space were awarded unfunded Space Act Agreements as part of NASA’s second Collaborations for Commercial Space Capabilities (CCSC-2) initiative, designed to advance commercial space efforts by providing access to NASA resources.
• Nanoracks, a Voyager Space company, installed a new, self-built payload, Gambit, to its Bishop Airlock on the ISS. Gambit provides advanced testing capabilities with a suite of sensors, robust data collection capabilities, and innovative robotic development.
• Sierra Space completed a fifth, sub-scale test of its LIFE™ (Large Integrated Flexible Environment) habitat, an inflatable module that serves as a three-story commercial habitation and a science and bio-pharma platform.
• Voyager Space acquired Implementation Partner ZIN Technologies Inc.