Nanoracks wants to expand from hosting experiments onboard the International Space Station to running its own miniature stations built from used rockets, with a first launch scheduled for next year.
The company has arranged two launches of eight CubeSats and a space habitat construction experiment on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in late 2020, according to a Nanoracks statement released Monday (Nov. 18). The launch, in partnership with Maxar, will be the company’s first demonstration mission for its Outpost project and will cut material that mimics a used second-stage rocket while in space. That’s the first step in turning such equipment into a space station that Nanoracks can then commercialize, according to the company.
“Structural metal cutting has never been done in space, and SpaceX is honored to help deliver a demonstration of this capability to orbit,” Gwynne Shotwell, president, and chief operating officer of SpaceX, said in the statement. “It’s promising to see more companies like Nanoracks investing in new technologies to advance the exploration of the moon and, ultimately, Mars.”
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