NASA has ideas for your next family vacation.
NASA laid out a plan Friday to open the International Space Station to expanded commercial activities, including space tourism.
For almost two decades since it was first occupied in 2000, the International Space Station has served as a continuously occupied hub for scientific and commercial research and development. Although expanded commercialization has been discussed for years, such a plan represents a change in the program’s status quo, said Marco Caceres, senior space analyst at market research firm Teal Group.
Several industries have already dabbled in research aboard the space station. Several years ago, pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly conducted an experiment on the station to investigate how medicine tablets dissolve. Jacksonville, Fla.-based Made in Space has made optical-fiber cables on the station, taking advantage of microgravity to help prevent manufacturing flaws.
“Russia embraced the concept of flying private astronauts because they needed the money,” she said. “Now NASA’s finding itself in a similar situation where it needs to free up money … to focus on [the lunar] gateway and Artemis lunar plans, and at least at this point, it’s not getting much of an increase from Congress.”
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