ATLANTA, GA – JULY 01, 2019 – A consortium of universities and laboratories has been selected by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to develop new technologies to support the Department of Energy’s nuclear science goals. The team, led by Dr. Anna Erickson and the Georgia Institute of Technology, consists of 12 universities, 10 national laboratories, and at least one industry advisor. NanoRacks, LLC will provide support to Texas A&M University and other members of the Enabling Technologies & Innovation (ETI) Consortium.
“The areas of focus are fascinating,” said Troy Guy, NanoRacks principal advisor of the program. “The NNSA is looking at global surveying technologies, advanced manufacturing, and other challenges that not only face the Department of Energy, but apply directly to the satellite industry.”
NanoRacks, a leader in satellite deployment, knows the challenges faced by payload developers and satellite operators.
“We are uniquely positioned to contribute to this team in a number of ways and we are excited to help the NNSA achieve its goals,” continues Guy. NanoRacks will work directly with the team and with Dr. Pavel Tsvetkov, Associate Professor at Texas A&M University’s Department of Nuclear Engineering.
“We are thrilled to collaborate with our NanoRacks partners in this important effort. The goal is to develop remote options enabling on-demand survey, analysis and identification capabilities for localized and distributed surface and atmospheric features”, said Pavel Tsvetkov – “We are certain NanoRacks will be finding many new partners within the ETI consortium as well sharing common interests.”
The program is one of the first to be run out of NanoRacks’ Office of Innovation, a division formed to spur collaboration and expansion of space opportunities to other industries. This program will be managed from the Company’s Webster, TX office and led by Michael Lewis, Chief Innovation Officer.
In addition to Georgia Tech, the consortium will include the University of Wisconsin and The Ohio State University as leads of thrust areas, as well as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Michigan, University of Hawaii, Colorado School of Mines, Texas A&M University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Washington State University, Duke University and University of Texas at Austin.
The national laboratory partners will include Brookhaven National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
NanoRacks’ commercial small satellite deployment opportunities in low-Earth orbit have sparked accelerated growth for numerous startup companies, provided educational opportunities, and driven the market for commercial access to space.
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For media inquiries, please email Abby Dickes, adickes@nanoracks.com.
About NanoRacks
NanoRacks LLC, an XO Markets company, is the world’s leading commercial space station company. NanoRacks believes commercial space utilization will enable innovation through in-space manufacturing of pharmaceuticals, fiber optics – and more, allow for transformational Earth observation, and make space a key player in finding the solution to Earth’s problems.
Today, the company offers low-cost, high-quality solutions to the most pressing needs for satellite deployment, basic and educational research, and more –in over 30 nations worldwide. Since 2009, Texas-based NanoRacks has truly created new markets and ushered in a new era of in-space-services, dedicated to making space just another place to do business.
In 2017, the Company announced their long-term plans via the NanoRacks Space Outpost Program. This program is dedicated to the repurposing of the upper stages of launch vehicles in-space and converting these structures into commercial habitats, both humanly and robotically tended, throughout the solar system.