Nanoracks LLC is a
private
Private or privates may refer to:
Music
* " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation''
* Private (band), a Denmark-based band
* "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...
in-space services companywhich builds space hardware and in-space repurposing tools.The company also facilitates experiments and launches of
CubeSats to
Low Earth Orbit
A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an orbit around Earth with a period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial objects in outer space are in LEO, with an altitude never mor ...
.
Nanoracks's main office is in
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
. The business development office is in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, and additional offices are located in
Abu Dhabi,
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...
(UAE) and
Turin
Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
.
7] Nanoracks provides tools, hardware and services that allow other companies, organizations and governments to conduct research and other projects in space.
Some of Nanoracks customers include
Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP), the
European Space Agency
, owners =
, headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France
, coordinates =
, spaceport = Guiana Space Centre
, seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png
, seal_size = 130px
, image = Views in the Main Control Room (1205 ...
(ESA), the
German Space Agency
The German Aerospace Center (german: Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V., abbreviated DLR, literally ''German Center for Air- and Space-flight'') is the national center for aerospace, energy and transportation research of Germany ...
(DLR),
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
,
Planet Labs,
Space Florida
Space Florida is the aerospace economic development agency of the State of Florida. The agency was created by consolidating three existing state space entities into a single new organization via the Space Florida Act, enacted in May 2006 by the ...
,
Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic is an American spaceflight company founded by Richard Branson and his British Virgin Group retains an 11.9% stake through Virgin Investments Limited. It is headquartered in California, and operates from New Mexico. The compan ...
,
Adidas,
Aerospace Corporation
The Aerospace Corporation is an American nonprofit corporation that operates a federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) in El Segundo, California. The corporation provides technical guidance and advice on all aspects of space mi ...
,
National Reconnaissance Office
The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is a member of the United States Intelligence Community and an agency of the United States Department of Defense which designs, builds, launches, and operates the reconnaissance satellites of the U.S. fe ...
(NRO),
UAE Space Agency
The United Arab Emirates Space Agency (UAESA) ( ar, وكالة الإمارات للفضاء translit: wikālat al-Imārāt l-lifaḍā') is the space agency of the United Arab Emirates government responsible for the development of the country' ...
,
Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre
The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC; ar, مركز محمد بن راشد للفضاء, markaz Muḥammad bin Rāshid lil-faḍāʾ), is a Dubai government organisation working on the UAE space programme, which includes various space s ...
(MBRSC), and the
Beijing Institute of Technology
Beijing Institute of Technology (abbreviated BIT; Simplified Chinese characters, Simplified Chinese: 北京理工大学; Traditional Chinese characters, Traditional Chinese: 北京理工大學; pinyin: Běijīng Lǐgōng Dàxué), is a National u ...
.
Nanoracks currently helps facilitate science on the
International Space Station
The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...
in multiple ways and built the
Bishop Airlock to launch payloads from the
International Space Station
The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...
.
History
![NanoRacksCubeSatLaunch ISS038-E-056389](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/NanoRacksCubeSatLaunch_ISS038-E-056389.jpg)
Nanoracks was founded in 2009 by
Jeffrey Manber
Jeffrey Manber is regarded as one of the pioneering commercial space entrepreneurs. As CEO of NanoRacks, from 2009, Manber has steered the growth of the first company to own and market its own hardware and services on board the International Space ...
and Charles Miller
to provide commercial hardware and services for the
U.S. National Laboratory on board the
International Space Station
The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...
via a
Space Act Agreement
Space Act Agreements (abbreviated SAA) are a type of legal agreement specified in the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 (and subsequent congressional authorizations) that uniquely empowers the National Aeronautics and Space Administration ...
with
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
. Nanoracks signed their first contract with NASA in September 2009 and had their first laboratory on the Space Station in April 2010.
In August 2012, Nanoracks partnered with
Space Florida
Space Florida is the aerospace economic development agency of the State of Florida. The agency was created by consolidating three existing state space entities into a single new organization via the Space Florida Act, enacted in May 2006 by the ...
to host the Space Florida International Space Station (ISS) Research Competition. As part of this program, Nanoracks and
DreamUp provide research NanoLab box units to fly payloads to the ISS, with scientific research to be conducted on board the U.S. National Laboratory. In October 2013, Nanoracks became the first company to coordinate the deployment of small satellites from the ISS via the airlock in the
Japanese Kibō module. This deployment was done using the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (J-SSOD).
By 2015, Nanoracks had deployed 64 satellites into
low Earth orbit
A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an orbit around Earth with a period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial objects in outer space are in LEO, with an altitude never mor ...
, and had 16 satellites on the ISS awaiting deployment, with an order backlog of 99.
The company also announced an agreement to fly a Chinese DNA experiment from the
Beijing Institute of Technology
Beijing Institute of Technology (abbreviated BIT; Simplified Chinese characters, Simplified Chinese: 北京理工大学; Traditional Chinese characters, Traditional Chinese: 北京理工大學; pinyin: Běijīng Lǐgōng Dàxué), is a National u ...
on the International Space Station. The agreement includes Nanoracks delivering the experiment to the American side of the ISS in a
SpaceX
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is an American spacecraft manufacturer, launcher, and a satellite communications corporation headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the stated goal of ...
Dragon spacecraft
American private space transportation company SpaceX has developed and produced several spacecraft named Dragon. The first family member, now referred to as Dragon 1, flew 23 cargo missions to the ISS between 2010 and 2020 before being retired ...
and berthing the experiment to Nanoracks' orbiting laboratory facilities, then sending data back to the Chinese researchers.
In 2022, Nanoracks became the first company to cut a piece of metal in space.
Facilities and labs
Nanoracks Bishop Airlock
The Nanoracks Bishop Airlock is a
commercially
Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...
-funded
airlock
An airlock, air-lock or air lock, often abbreviated to just lock, is a compartment with doors which can be sealed against pressure which permits the passage of people and objects between environments of differing pressure or atmospheric compo ...
module launched to the
International Space Station
The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...
on
SpaceX CRS-21
SpaceX CRS-21, also known as SpX-21, was a Commercial Resupply Service mission to the International Space Station which launched on 6 December 2020. The mission was contracted by NASA and was flown by SpaceX using a Cargo Dragon 2. This was t ...
on 6 December 2020.
The module was built by Nanoracks,
Thales Alenia Space
Thales Alenia Space () is a Franco-Italian aerospace manufacturer. A joint venture between the French technology corporation Thales Group (67%) and Italian defense conglomerate Leonardo (33%), the company is the largest satellite manufactur ...
, and
Boeing
The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and p ...
.
It will be used to deploy
CubeSat
A CubeSat is a class of miniaturized satellite based around a form factor consisting of cubes. CubeSats have a mass of no more than per unit, and often use commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components for their electronics and structure. CubeSats ...
s,
small satellite
A small satellite, miniaturized satellite, or smallsat is a satellite of low mass and size, usually under . While all such satellites can be referred to as "small", different classifications are used to categorize them based on mass. Satellites ca ...
s, and other external payloads for
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
,
Center for the Advancement of Science in Space
The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), a non-profit organization, is the manager of the International Space Station United States National Laboratory, a US government-funded laboratory with principal research facilities locat ...
(CASIS), and other commercial and governmental customers.
[ ]
Internal ISS Services
Nanoracks facilities on the
International Space Station
The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...
(ISS) include the Plate Reader-2 – a Molecular Devices SpectraMax M5e modified for space flight and the microgravity environment. This
spectrophotometer analyzes samples by shining light (200-1000 nm) either on or through the top or bottom of each sample in the well of a
microplate
A microplate, also known as a microtiter plate (''Microtiter'' is a registered trademark in the United States, therefore it should not be used generically without attribution), microwell plate or multiwell, is a flat plate with multiple "wells" ...
. The Nanoracks Plate Reader-2 can accommodate cuvettes in special microplate holders as well as 6-, 12-, 24-, 48-, 96-, and 384-well microplates. It can operate in
absorbance
Absorbance is defined as "the logarithm of the ratio of incident to transmitted radiant power through a sample (excluding the effects on cell walls)". Alternatively, for samples which scatter light, absorbance may be defined as "the negative lo ...
,
fluorescence intensity, or
fluorescence polarization modes. Laboratory space on the ISS is provided to Nanoracks by
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
under a contractual lease arrangement.
External ISS Services
Nanoracks deploys small
CubeSat
A CubeSat is a class of miniaturized satellite based around a form factor consisting of cubes. CubeSats have a mass of no more than per unit, and often use commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components for their electronics and structure. CubeSats ...
s into orbit from the ISS through the
Nanoracks CubeSat Deployer
The Nanoracks CubeSat Deployer (NRCSD) is a device to deploy CubeSats into orbit from the International Space Station (ISS).
In 2014, two CubeSat deployers were on board the International Space Station (ISS): the Japanese Experiment Module ...
via the airlock in the
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
''Kibō'' module, after the satellites are
transported
''Transported'' is an Australian convict melodrama film directed by W. J. Lincoln. It is considered a lost film.
Plot
In England, Jessie Grey is about to marry Leonard Lincoln but the evil Harold Hawk tries to force her to marry him and she w ...
to the ISS on a cargo spacecraft. When released, the small satellites are provided a push of about that begins a slow process of satellite separation from the ISS.
The Nanoracks CubeSat Deployer (NRCSD) is a self-contained deployment system that mechanically and electrically isolates CubeSats from the ISS, the ISS crew, and cargo resupply vehicles. The design of the NRCSD is compliant with the ISS flight safety requirements and is space qualified. The deployer is composed of anodized aluminum plates, access panels, deployer doors, and a base plate assembly. The inside of the NRCSD is designed to minimize and/or preclude the jamming of CubeSat appendages during deployment.
External Platform (NREP)
![ISS-48 Takuya Onishi and Kate Rubins prepare the NREP in the Kibo lab](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/ISS-48_Takuya_Onishi_and_Kate_Rubins_prepare_the_NREP_in_the_Kibo_lab.jpg)
The Nanoracks External Platform (NREP), installed in August 2016, is a commercial gateway-and-return to the extreme environment of space. Following the CubeSat form factor, payloads experience the microgravity, radiation and other harsh elements native to the space environment, observe earth, test sensors, materials, and electronics, and can return the payload to Earth.
The Nanoracks Kaber Microsat Deployer is a reusable system that allows the International Space Station to control and command satellite deployments. It can deploy microsatellites up to 82 kg into space. Microsatellites that are compatible with the Kaber Deployer have additional power, volume, and communication resources, which allows for deployments of higher scope and sophistication.
External Cygnus Deployer (E-NRCSD)
The satellite deployment service enabled satellites to be deployed at an altitude higher than the ISS via a Commercial Resupply Vehicle. These satellites are deployed after the completion of the primary cargo delivery mission and can fly at 500 kilometers above Earth and ca. 100 kilometers above the ISS and extends the life of CubeSats already deployed in low-Earth orbit. The Cygnus Deployer holds a total volume of 36U and adds approximately two years to the lifespan of these satellites.
E-NRCSD missions:
* The
Cygnus CRS OA-6
OA-6, previously known as Orbital-6, is the sixth flight of the Orbital ATK uncrewed resupply spacecraft Cygnus and its fifth flight to the International Space Station under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA. The missio ...
mission was launched 23 March 2016 at 03:05:52 UTC. Inside the Cygnus was the Saffire scientific payload. Mounted outside of the Cygnus was a CubeSat deployer by Nanoracks. Both of these systems remained inactive during the Cygnus docking at the ISS. After the CRS OA-6 resupply mission was completed, and the Cygnus was unberthed from the station and performed scientific experiments. The Saffire's purpose was to study combustion in microgravity, which was done once Cygnus left the ISS. Likewise, in between the CRS OA-6's initiation and its reentry into Earth's atmosphere, numerous Cubesats were deployed into orbit for the commercial entities that built and operate them.
* The
Cygnus CRS OA-5
OA-5, previously known as Orbital-5, was the seventh planned flight of the Orbital Sciences' uncrewed resupply spacecraft Cygnus and its sixth flight to the International Space Station under the Commercial Resupply Services contract with NAS ...
mission was launched 17 October 2016 at 23:45 UTC. On 25 November 2016, during the CRS OA-5 resupply mission, Nanoracks deployed four Spire LEMUR-2 CubeSats from the Cygnus Cargo Vehicle from a 500-kilometer orbit.
* The
Cygnus CRS OA-7
OA-7, previously known as Orbital-7, is the eighth flight of the Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems, Orbital ATK Cargo spacecraft, uncrewed resupply spacecraft Cygnus (spacecraft), Cygnus and its seventh flight to the International Space Stat ...
mission was launched 18 April 2017 at 15:11:26 UTC. On Cygnus' eighth resupply mission, Nanoracks deployed four Spire LEMUR-2 CubeSats at a nearly 500-kilometer orbit.
* The
Cygnus CRS OA-8E mission was launched 12 November 2017, 12:19:51 UTC.
*
Cygnus CRS OA-9E
OA-9E was the tenth flight of the Orbital ATK uncrewed resupply spacecraft Cygnus and its ninth flight to the International Space Station (ISS) under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS contract) with NASA. The mission launched on 21 May 20 ...
mission was launched 21 May 2018, 08:44:06 UTC.
Mars Demo-1
Mars Demo-1 (OMD-1) is a self-contained hosted payload platform to demonstrate the robotic cutting of second stage representative tank material on-orbit.
See also
*
Small satellite
A small satellite, miniaturized satellite, or smallsat is a satellite of low mass and size, usually under . While all such satellites can be referred to as "small", different classifications are used to categorize them based on mass. Satellites ca ...
*
Orbital ATK
Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems (NGIS) was a sector (business segment) of Northrop Grumman from 2018 through 2019. It was formed from Orbital ATK Inc. a company which resulted from the merger of Orbital Sciences Corporation and parts of Alli ...
*
Orbital Sciences Cygnus
*
Soyuz (spacecraft)
Soyuz () is a series of spacecraft which has been in service since the 1960s, having made more than 140 flights. It was designed for the Soviet space program by the Korolev Design Bureau (now Energia). The Soyuz succeeded the Voskhod spacecr ...
*
Starlab Space Station
References
{{Reflist
Aerospace companies
Aerospace companies of the United States
Private spaceflight companies
Space Act Agreement companies