Commercial Capabilities and Platforms on the Space Station

The International Space Station is a valuable platform for housing commercial platforms and enhancing capabilities onboard the International Space Station. To support economic development in low Earth orbit(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. and the growing demand for space-based research, several commercial facility and service providers have expanded their commercially operated facilities onboard the ISSInternational Space Station.

You can find out the latest on commercial capabilities and platforms on the space station at the 2018 ISS Research and Development Conference (ISSRDC)—Monday, July 23 through Thursday, July 26 in San Francisco. ISSRDC(Abbreviation: ISSRDC) The only conference dedicated exclusively to showcasing how the International Space Station is advancing science and technology and enabling a robust and sustainable market in LEO. This annual conference brings together leaders from the commercial sector, U.S. government agencies, and academic communities to foster innovation and discovery onboard the space station. ISSRDC is hosted by the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, manager of the ISS National Lab; NASA; and the American Astronautical Society. is the place to go to hear thought leaders and subject matter experts discuss the latest R&D taking place in low Earth orbit!

A technical session on Tuesday is centered on innovative solutions for space-based research, while another discusses expanding commercial capabilities on the space station. A technical session on Wednesday will focus on new commercial platforms and strategies for space-based research. More details on the technical sessions are listed on the ISSRDC website.

Onboard the ISS, there are currently 14 commercially operated facilities, managed by eight companies. These innovative commercial facility and service providers:

• Offer increasing facility and capability options to users across a wide range of research areas
• Plan and manage the in-orbit operations of their facilities
• Provide operational experience and engineering expertise to address a variety of unique research needs
• Work with users to modify ground-based experiments and procedures to work in the unique environment of space
• Provide monitoring capabilities and access to real-time or near real-time data from facilities on the ISS
• Strengthen LEO economic development and decrease dependency on government