By Jeffrey Manber – NanoRacks thanks the folks over at the Space Frontier Foundation for awarding their 2011 “Vision to Reality” award to us. As Jim Muncy explained, this award is not for space companies that are solely business plans or viewgraphs but for those that have accomplished real world space operations with a proven business model. Yes, that is possible now.
In giving us this recognition, SFF noted:
Nanoracks is a fantastic model for a successful commercial space company, and they are showing that beneficial science and profit can go hand in hand. Their research modules are flying on the ISS and their business is strong back on earth. The SFF also salutes their slogan, “Space for Everyone.”
What makes this recognition doubly sweet is that the last two recipients of the Vision to Reality Award were SpaceX in 2009 and Masten Space in 2010–two ventures we admire very much.
The award is being given out this Saturday July 30th at the New Space 2011 conference in San Jose, California. I’ll go out and represent everyone at NanoRacks, even though I just learned it is a black tie event—despite that, thanks to everyone at SFF who voted to give us this outstanding recognition from our colleagues in the commercial space community.
These are special times in the industry when the emergence of commercial space ventures is at long last moving indeed from “Vision to Reality.”