Companies looking to work on the ISS can expect to pay at least $50 million just in transportation costs.
NASA will be opening the International Space Station (ISS) for commercial business so that U. S. industry innovation can burgeon in low-Earth orbit. As part of that initiative, NASA will also begin allowing for private astronaut missions to the space station, the organization announced Friday.
A new interim directive from NASA will allow private companies to buy time and interior space on the ISS for producing or marketing their products. It also will allow corporations to use resources (including NASA astronauts’ time and expertise) on the ISS for commercial purposes. Starting in 2020, corporations will be able to send their own astronauts to the ISS.
At Friday’s press conference announcing the news, NASA representatives further discussed plans to open ISS to commercial businesses, explaining that its long-term goal is to create a robust economy in low-Earth orbit, from where NASA, and other customers, can purchase services. To start the process, the administration is allocating 5 percent of its resources.
The organization explained that, in late 2018, NASA selected 12 companies to conduct studies to assess potential growth of a low-Earth orbit economy and how to best stimulate demand for human space flight.
