(Houston, Texas) Astrium North America is proud to announce that Astrium Space Transportation and NanoRacks LLC have teamed up to offer a cost‐effective, commercial centrifuge facility for the International Space Station.

Astrium Space Transportation is handing over on the 14th of February to NanoRacks LLC a gravitational research centrifuge marking a new era of commercial utilization of the U.S. National Lab. The handover will take place at Astrium North America’s Houston facility.

The centrifuge will allow researchers to perform research under various gravity levels, including Mars and Moon conditions or as 1‐G control to contrast results with microgravity projects conducted on the space station.

Astrium North America is pleased to be involved in this truly commercial and collaborative project with NanoRacks, working together with NASA toward the enhancement of science facility capabilities on ISS. “This centrifuge facility is a first small step in adding commercially available science facilities to the ISS, but we think one in the right direction, and look forward to similar developments and collaborations in the near future” said Carl Kuehnel, Senior Project Manager Astrium North America.

“We are delighted to permanently house the Astrium centrifuge on our third NanoRacks’ Platform, one dedicated to basic and industrial research, with higher power than our first two Platforms now on space station” said Jeffrey Manber, Managing Director of NanoRacks . The NR‐3 Platform, along with the Astrium Centrifuge, are manifested on the Russian cargo ship Progress scheduled to be launched to the space station in the summer of 2012.

The hardware, and its home on NanoRacks Platform‐3, has been solely funded by the two companies in a demonstration of support for researchers’ needs for sophisticated research tools in low‐earth orbit. The ability of the NanoRacks’ Platform and the Centrifuge to be produced in a short period of time at low cost shows that the private sector has a critical role to play in supporting the infrastructure in low‐earth orbit and beyond. Both companies expect more announcements in the near future on further joint projects.

Astrium North America is able to provide existing high‐quality life science equipment developed by Astrium Space Transportation and supported by Kayser Italia to US companies for commercial use. Astrium North America continues to pursue opportunities to leverage existing, quality life science equipment from Europe giving commercial space companies a production edge. “Leveraging off the shelf, space tested life science hardware can be a great benefit to a commercial space project” said Ron Dunklee, CEO Astrium North America. Please contact Astrium North America for a complete catalog of existing life science hardware.

About Astrium North America

Founded in 1973, Astrium North America is a U.S. based corporation, with affiliations to Astrium Space Transportation, specializing in external cargo carrier development, experiment and payload processing, life and physical sciences hardware, integration services, operations, program and project management, software engineering, and flight simulation and training for the international aerospace community. Please visit http://www.astrium‐na.com or call (832) 224‐4544 and follow us at @astriumna.

About NanoRacks

NanoRacks LLC was formed in 2009 to provide quality hardware and services for the U.S. National Laboratory onboard the International Space Station. The company developed and has two research platforms onboard the U.S. National Laboratory which can house plug and play payloads using the CubeSat form factor. The current signed customer pipeline of over 50 payloads including domestic and international educational institutions, research organizations and government organizations, has propelled NanoRacks into a leadership position in understanding the emerging commercial market for low‐earth orbit utilization. Visit us at http://www.nanoracks.com and follow us at @nanoracks.

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Commercial Centrifuge Facility for the ISS

“This move consolidates services for our customers that previously have been taking place with external partners,” explains Center manager Rob Alexander. “Our customers will benefit from having NanoRacks control every aspect of their payload process, from integration, testing, manifesting, safety and mission control operations during our space station missions.”

NanoRacks’ customers–including commercial researchers, students and governmental programs, can now bring their International Space Station payloads to the Houston facility where the company will handle all the steps necessary for inclusion onto NASA’s U.S. National Lab on International Space Station. “This will allow us to keep our already historically low costs for space research as low as possible while further streamlining mission operations,” explains Alexander.

Says Michael Johnson, chief technology officer, “the opening of the NanoRacks’ payload and communications center means that over the next month or so we are saying goodbye to several partners, including our friends at Kentucky Space and University of Kentucky. But we look forward working soon in other ways with Kris Kimel, James Lumpp and all the great Kentucky students that took part during our first year of operations.”

About NanoRacks

NanoRacks LLC provides quality hardware and commercial services for the U.S. National Laboratory onboard the International Space Station. NanoRacks allows customers to access our multiple research platforms onboard the U.S. National Laboratory which can house plug and play payloads as well as other sophisticated research hardware.

The current signed customer pipeline of over 50 payloads has propelled NanoRacks into a unique position in understanding the emerging commercial market for low-earth orbit utilization. Longer term, as humanity ventures more and more into low-earth orbit and beyond, NanoRacks’ will be there providing the best quality space goods and services at competitive prices.

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NanoRacks Opens Customer Operations Center

Astrium and Nanoracks plan to provide a gravitational research platform as part of NASA’s U.S. National Laboratory on the International Space Station. The proposed system provides the first commercial access to a centrifuge facility (on the ISS/in Space) for biology and life science experiments.

Friedrichshafen – Germany, 27.6.2011
Astrium and Nanoracks plan to outfit a platform for microgravity investigations with a centrifuge for gravitational research. The proposed centrifuge system, based on a standard experiment container system, was developed by Astrium for ESA more than 25 years ago and has been used for more than 120 experiments for various topics. The joint facility shall allow a continuation of this research and for the first time allow commercial users access to an in orbit centrifuge for 1-g reference and threshold studies.

Experiments from various research topics, mainly in biology and life science can hereby make use of a large inventory of pre-flown designs from previous space missions to shorten the time from a new idea to the execution in orbit to less than 1 year. The portfolio of pre-flown hardware includes among others, Mini-Aquariums, Seed Germination Boxes, Plant Growth Chambers, Mammalian and Plant Cell Culture Units, and Drosophila Multi-Generation Chambers. The platform offers capabilities for observation and fixation of the samples or specimen. Experimenters also have access to other Nanoracks laboratory equipment already in orbit.

NanoRacks currently operates two platforms l within the ISS U.S. National Lab and has announced plans to launch an array of additional facilities, including a Plate Peader for microbiological analysis in 2012 ,further enhancing the experimental capabilities for biological and life science research. The facility shall be operated under Nanoracks’ Space Act Agreement with NASA as part of NASA’s U.S. National Laboratory on the International Space Station.

About Nanoracks
NanoRacks LLC was formed in 2009 to provide quality hardware and services for the U.S. National Laboratory onboard the International Space Station. The Company has two research platforms onboard the U.S. National Laboratory which can house plug and play payloads using the CubeSat form factor. The current signed customer pipeline of over 50 payloads including domestic and international educational institutions, research organizations and government organizations, has propelled NanoRacks into a leadership position in understanding the emerging commercial market for low-earth orbit utilization. Visit us at www.nanoracks.com and follow us at @nanoracks.

About Astrium
Astrium, a wholly owned subsidiary of EADS, is dedicated to providing civil and defence space systems and services. In 2008, Astrium had a turnover of €4.3 billion and more than 15,000 employees in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain and the Netherlands. Its three main areas of activity are Astrium Satellites for spacecraft and ground segment, Astrium Services for the development and delivery of satellite services and Astrium Space Transportation for launchers and orbital infrastructure.

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Astrium and NanoRacks Announce Centrifuge Agreement

Since its formation in 2009, NanoRacks has developed, launched and now operates a commercial space research facility as part of the U.S. National Lab onboard the International Space Station. The company provides a historically low-cost, commercial path to both the ISS and beyond and today enjoys a backlog of over 50 commercial payloads representing both domestic and international organizations and companies.

Managing Director Jeffrey Manber commented that “these funds will be used to facilitate even further the use of our hardware onboard the International Space Station’s U.S. National Lab and allow us to grow to the next level as an organization. We appreciate that these funds come from both sophisticated space investors and those who consider low-earth orbit a stable marketplace with the operational status of the International Space Station.” Added Manber, “NanoRacks believes that we have entered a new chapter in space utilization in part thanks to the commitment by NASA and its supporters to allow commercial services in low-earth orbit.”

NanoRacks has been awarded a NASA contract to develop a Plate Reader for on-orbit analysis; the facility will be owned and marketed by the Company, it also enjoys a Phase 1 SBIR to design a sophisticated, more powerful research platform for use onboard the U.S. National Lab on ISS and has numerous contracts with research organizations, educational organizations from high school to university, and government organizations. Its main production facility is located in Houston, Texas.

Near Earth LLC, a New York based investment bank acted as the private placement agent. Hoyt Davidson of Near Earth commented: “I want to congratulate the team at NanoRacks, LLC for the successful close of their private capital raise. We are very proud to have been a part of this important financing for what we believe is one of commercial space industry’s most promising new companies.

This success was achieved in large part due to several key factors, including NanoRacks’: (i) government friendly, yet commercial focus and its success in penetrating both NASA and nongovernment markets; (ii) contractual backlog and customer prospects building momentum throughout the placement process; (iii) ability to sell more than just the vision to investors, but also the business model and the market opportunity; and (iv) willingness and determination up front to provide new investors with an attractive risk / reward opportunity.

Download the full Press Release and follow future developments on twitter at @nanoracks.

NanoRacks Announces Completion of Seed Round of Financing

The company is working with NASA under a Space Act Agreement for the use of the ISS National Lab on the International Space Station. For the NanoRacks team, these missions are proof-positive of a new can-do era. “For both educational payloads,” explains Managing Director Jeffrey Manber, “the schools went from zero to docking in less than nine months. That’s a great benchmark of what is now possible on the U.S. National Lab.”

To read more, download NanoRacks Release 06 Commercial Payloads Arrive at ISS (6.9K pdf).

NanoRacks Commercial Payloads Arrive at ISS

The launch will be streamed by JAXA, watch it here. NanoRacks LLC is dedicated to provide low-cost, regular access to the U.S. National Laboratory onboard the International Space Station. We now have two research platforms onboard the U.S. National Laboratory which can house plug and play payloads using the CubeSat form factor. Our current signed customer pipeline of over 50 payloads includes domestic and international schools, research organizations and government organizations.

To read more, download NanoRacks Release 06 Payloads Go for JAXA Launch (12.3K pdf).

NanoRacks Payloads Go for JAXA Launch

Developed by the entrepreneurial company NanoRacks LLC, the research platforms are designed for use by commercial customers and students within the pressurized space station environment. Each platform allows up to 16 customer payloads to effortlessly plug into a standard USB connector, thus providing power and data connectivity in one simple operation. It is the ultimate plug and play.

“Everything went great this morning,” explained NanoRacks Managing Director Jeffrey Manber. “It’s amazing that we are up and running within ten months of signing the agreement with NASA. Our thanks to the whole NASA team.”

The company is working with NASA under a Space Act Agreement for the use of the ISS National Lab on the International Space Station. To date the funds have come exclusively from the commercial partners. The NanoRacks platform is located in US ExPRESS Rack in the Japanese Experiment Module on the International Space Station.

Each Nanoracks Facility is approximately 17.34 x 9.97 x 20.3 inches and weighs approximately 12 lbs. To read more, download NanoRacks Release 05 Astronaut Activates Commercial Add on (16.1K pdf).

Astronaut Activates Commercial Add-on onboard ISS

The company, an entrepreneurial venture, has developed a low cost facility for industrial and educational microgravity research on the space station. The company’s second research platform is slated to blast off this week on board the space shuttle Atlantis.

Under a Space Act Agreement with NASA for the use of the ISS National Lab on the International Space Station, NanoRacks’s second research platform will join the first one that is already on the station. An astronaut will activate both platforms within the next month. To read more, download NanoRacks Release 04 Commercial Expansion (46k pdf)

NASA to Ferry Commercial Expansion on ISS

With the successful completion of the STS-131 mission, the space company NanoRacks is poised to begin providing affordable, repeatable and reliable access to the U.S. National Laboratory on the International Space Station. The STS-131 crew delivered the first NanoRack Research Platform to the International Space Station., where it will operate in the Japanese Kibo Laboratory under an arrangement with NASA.

Critical to the successful operations of the NanoRacks program is lowering the technical risks associated with space operations. To achieve this, NanoRacks turned to Space Partnership International a unique venture providing a one-stop business development, , engineering, financial , risk management and insurance solution which is focused on the commercial space and New Space communities.

“For NanoRacks, it is vital that we offer customers and ourselves the finest business development and risk management tools—and only SPI is willing to work with the smaller New Space customers—with the same sophisticated products that the bigger satellite players use,” explained Managing Director Jeffrey Manber. To read more, download NanoRacks-Release-03-Space-Partnership-International (172k pdf)

NanoRacks Announce Space Risk Mitigation Programme

The Administration’s decision to extend operational support for the International Space Station (ISS) until at least 2020 is a much needed boost for the American space industry. “The commitment to support the Space Station and focus on commercial services is exactly the message we in the private sector needed,” explained managing director Jeffrey Manber.

NanoRacks has developed a low-cost research platform, known as the NanoRacks Platform, for utilization of small “MiniLab” payloads on the U.S. National Laboratory on ISS. The standardized MiniLabs, based on the CubeSat form factor, will allow for low cost use of the unique environment of space. Each NanoRacks platform can hold up to 16 MiniLabs, weighing no more than 1 kilogram each, for use by researchers, commercial customers and even schools and universities.

The first NanoRacks Platform will be deployed permanently on the International Space Station via the mid-March shuttle mission. To read more, download NanoRacks Release 02 NanoRacks Applauds Administration-Space-Policy (23.6k pdf)

NanoRacks Applauds Administration’s Space Policy