International Space Station To Get First Commercial Airlock

The International Space Station (ISS) will soon get its first commercially funded airlock that will enable more small satellites to be utilized from the orbiting laboratory. NanoRacks, a Houston based company, is in agreement with American space agency NASA to build the airlock, and its launch is being targeted for 2019.

"We want to utilize the space station to expose the commercial sector to new and novel uses of space, ultimately creating a new economy in low-Earth orbit for technology development, scientific research, and human and cargo transportation," said Sam Scimemi, director of NASA's ISS division. "We hope this new airlock will allow a diverse community to experiment and develop opportunities in space for the commercial sector."

In the past, NanoRacks has already deployed a number of tiny cubesats from ISS' Japanese Kibo module. Now the company will collaborate with aerospace giant Boeing to build the new airlock, and the two recently signed an independent partnership for the same. The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), which looks after the U.S. national laboratory on the space station, will coordinate and evaluate the payloads being deployed into space through the new airlock. Incidentally, another tranquility port on the space station hosts the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM), a model inflatable space habitat that was attached last year.

According to a Space.com report, NASA has issued a request for information last year asking private companies how they can utilize resources on the space laboratory, like docking ports. BEAM and NanoRacks Airlock are two huge examples of how NASA is making a noticeable effort to maximize the orbiting lab's use and promote commercial activity in space. Subsequently, the American space agency will be able to concentrate on its deep space exploration goals, which include sending manned missions beyond the Moon and to Mars.