Commercial space stations are taking flight
What will the space economy look like? Mike Lewis and Scott Rodriguez of Nanoracks discuss the future of space commercialization.
As one of four private companies selected by NASA to build a commercial space station, Nanoracks has ambitious plans to make low Earth orbit (LEO) accessible to the average business. The company’s Starlab space station, which is being built in collaboration with a slate of major aerospace companies and is scheduled to launch in 2028, will essentially be a 340-cubic-meter orbiting science laboratory, with infrastructure for science experiments in biology, physics, and materials, to name a few areas. The goal is to drive scientific advances by opening up access to the unique conditions found in orbit.
In this interview, Mike Lewis, chief innovation officer, and Scott Rodriguez, vice president of government programs at Nanoracks LLC, explain how they view the future of the space industry and the roles nontraditional space companies may play in years to come.1
What will the space economy look like in 10 years?
Lewis: When thinking 10 years down the line, our company has looked at LEO opportunities due to the proximity to Earth. We see a lot of technologies leaning toward Earth observation, research in microgravity environments, space vehicle resupply and repurposing, and space manufacturing. There is also research into humans enduring long-duration spaceflight, maybe to the Moon or Mars. I think we will see a lot of technologies currently used on Earth being adapted for space applications.
What do you think the space economy needs in order to grow and flourish?
Rodriguez: There are many challenges that we need to overcome. One is cheaply transporting payloads to and from space. Otherwise, the space economy is never going to be self-sustaining. We are always going to have to send payloads up and bring them back. And this needs to get a lot cheaper for the LEO and lunar economy to work. There are other challenges we have to solve to have a sustainable space economy. For example, we also need more automation for completing tasks and processes in space, better communication infrastructure for deep space, and more efficient ways of transmitting data.
What needs to happen for humans to be able to endure extended missions in space?
Rodriguez: In the next 10 years, we need to do more research to enable a pleasant human experience on long-duration space missions, including in areas such as interocular pressure, loss of bone mass, and motion sickness. I love the idea of putting people on the Moon, but first we need to understand what it takes to maintain human health on these long-term trips. For now, it’ll likely be shorter trips and essential physiological research.
Where is there an opportunity for nontraditional companies to participate in space?
Rodriguez: Companies have an opportunity to bring their industry expertise to space applications. For example, companies that specialize in welding and assembly could apply their expertise to space manufacturing. If we can do these tasks up there, it would be a lot easier than launching everything already assembled. Another example is bringing hospitality expertise to space. During the pandemic, a hotel chain researched methods to create a more sterile environment for its guests, and a lot of its research is directly applicable to the space station where you can’t spray it down but need these innate [disinfectant] properties in materials. It’s a great example of research on Earth that also has applications in space.
How will research in space help us here on Earth?
Lewis: Technology advancements on Earth and in space are symbiotic. Just as advancements on Earth will help further develop the space economy, scientific discoveries made in space will benefit people on Earth. I’ll give just one example. Protein crystals—the basic building blocks of every pharmaceutical—can be grown in space, where larger crystals will develop due to the effects of microgravity. These larger crystals may have different structures with new health care applications. At any moment, we could have a massive discovery in space that changes life for everybody on Earth. That’s why it’s important to keep making space more accessible, particularly to companies that aren’t part of the traditional space economy.