You Might Be Able To Visit The International Space Station Soon, But NASA Says It Won’t Be Cheap

“It’s no longer just for science and research. You’re allowing ventures to come in and use that space for profit, for making money. That’s not a small thing.”

NASA says that companies that wish to conduct commercial/marketing work on the ISS must meet at least one of three requirements. That the work requires the “unique microgravity environment” aboard for production of some commercial application. That it is connected to a NASA mission. Or that it supports the development of a “sustainable” economy in low-Earth orbit.

In conclusion, NASA also says that they will allocate about 5% of its resources on the station to accommodate the commercial activities.

Recruiting potential companies

With the commercialization process comes the idea of cost and company interest. Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator of NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, says, “Eventually, the space station we have … will wear out. The physical hardware won’t be able to be maintained. It’ll become cost-prohibitive for us to keep it operating.”

With the idea that the station could fizzle out, it could reflect negatively on the ISS’s ability to recruit for commercial opportunities.

NASA Chief Financial Officer Jeff DeWit adds, “This is not going to be a profit-making venture for NASA at all.”

We hope that NASA will be able to keep this idea afloat and recruit companies for commercialization. What a cool thing this would be!

Are you into all things space like we are?

Check out the story from when NASA’s InSight Lander captured the first-ever photo from Mars! What an amazing moment.