Continuously crewed habitat to support research, industrial
activity, and more
DENVER, Oct. 21, 2021 /PRNewswire/
-- Nanoracks, in collaboration with Voyager Space and
Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT], has formed a team to develop the
first-ever free flying commercial space station. The space station,
known as Starlab, will be a continuously crewed commercial
platform, dedicated to conducting critical research, fostering
industrial activity, and ensuring continued U.S. presence and
leadership in low-Earth orbit. Starlab is expected to achieve
initial operational capability by 2027.
To meet U.S. government, international space agency, and
commercial needs in space, these industry leaders will develop
Starlab specifically to enable the growing space economy and meet
pent-up customer demand for space services such as materials
research, plant growth, and astronaut activity. Together, these
companies bring unparalleled experience in commercial space
utilization, engineering design and performance, technology
innovation, and investment strategy.
"Since the beginning, Nanoracks has sought to own and operate a
private space station to fully unlock market demand," says
Jeffrey Manber, CEO and Co-Founder
of Nanoracks. "Our team has spent the last decade learning the
business of space stations, understanding customer needs, charting
market growth, and self-investing in private hardware on the ISS
like the Bishop Airlock. Nanoracks and our team are excited to work
with NASA and our friends across the world as we move forward with
Starlab."
NASA recently announced the Commercial Low-Earth Orbit (LEO)
Destination (CLD) project to support the development of private
space stations. CLD will stimulate a multifaceted LEO economy and
provide science and crew capabilities in LEO before the
International Space Station (ISS) retires.
Nanoracks will prime the Starlab development effort leveraging
over a decade of experience as the pathfinder of and global leader
in commercial ISS utilization. Voyager Space, the majority
shareholder in Nanoracks, will lead strategy and capital investment
and Lockheed Martin, a leader in developing and operating complex
spacecraft, will serve as the manufacturer and technical
integrator.
The basic elements of the Starlab space station include a large
inflatable habitat, designed and built by Lockheed Martin, a
metallic docking node, a power and propulsion element, a large
robotic arm for servicing cargo and payloads, and a
state-of-the-art laboratory system to host a comprehensive
research, science, and manufacturing capability. Starlab will
be able to continuously host up to four astronauts for conducting
critical science and research.
"We're excited to be part of such an innovative and capable
team—one that allows each company to leverage their core
strengths," said Lisa Callahan, Vice
President and General Manager, Commercial Civil Space at Lockheed
Martin. "Lockheed Martin's extensive experience in building complex
spacecraft and systems, coupled with Nanoracks' commercial business
innovation and Voyager's financial expertise allows our team to
create a customer-focused space station that will fuel our future
vision. We have invested significantly in habitat technology which
enables us to propose a cost-effective, mission-driven spacecraft
design for Starlab."
Nanoracks' Starlab business model is designed to enable science,
research, and manufacturing for global customers, and bring added
value to long-duration sovereign astronaut missions. Starlab will
also serve tourism and other commercial and business
activities.
"Voyager Space is highly confident in the Starlab business model
and its ability to be commercially sustainable and well
capitalized," says Dylan Taylor,
Voyager Space Chairman & CEO. "Voyager Space sees numerous
synergies leveraging the capabilities across our organization's
operating businesses, as well as within the Lockheed Martin
ecosystem. We see this partnership as just the beginning of our
work together."
Learn more about Starlab and the team here.
About Nanoracks
Media Contact: D'Mani
Harrison-Porter, dharrison-porter@nanoracks.com
Nanoracks, a Voyager Space Company, is the world's leading
commercial space services provider. Nanoracks owns and operates
private hardware on the International Space Station and has
launched over 1,300 research experiments, deployed over 300 small
satellites, and installed the Bishop Airlock. Today, Nanoracks
leverages over a decade of experience to develop new commercial
space systems in direct response to customer needs. These space
systems include converting commercial launch vehicle upper stages
into functional secondary platforms, building new habitable space
stations, supplying payload and crew airlock systems and services
infrastructure, and more. Follow @Nanoracks on Twitter to learn
more.
About Voyager Space
Media Contact:
Abby Dickes,
abby.dickes@voyagerspace.com
Voyager Space is a global leader in space exploration. Voyager's
long-term mission is to create a vertically integrated, publicly
traded NewSpace company capable of delivering any space mission
humans can conceive. The firm's first-in-industry model is uniquely
tailored to support the growth needs of commercial space companies
by replacing traditional private capital models with a longer-term
approach that provides permanent capital. To learn more about
Voyager Space, please visit: https://voyagerspace.com/ and follow
@VoyagerSH on Twitter.
About Lockheed Martin
Media Contact:
Gary Napier,
gary.p.napier@lmco.com
Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) is
a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately
114,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the
research, design, development, manufacture, integration and
sustainment of advanced technology systems, products, and services.
Please follow @LMNews on Twitter for the latest
announcements and news across the corporation.
Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking
Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking
statements." All statements, other than statements of
historical fact, including those with respect to Voyager Space
Holdings, Inc.'s (the "Company's") mission statement and growth
strategy, are "forward-looking statements." Although the
Company's management believes that such forward-looking statements
are reasonable, it cannot guarantee that such expectations are, or
will be, correct. These forward-looking statements involve many
risks and uncertainties, which could cause the Company's future
results to differ materially from those anticipated.
Potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, general
economic conditions and conditions affecting the industries in
which the Company operates; the uncertainty of regulatory
requirements and approvals; and the ability to obtain necessary
financing on acceptable terms or at all. Readers should not place
any undue reliance on forward-looking statements since they involve
these known and unknown uncertainties and other factors which are,
in some cases, beyond the Company's control and which could, and
likely will, materially affect actual results, levels of activity,
performance or achievements. Any forward-looking statement reflects
the Company's current views with respect to future events and is
subject to these and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions
relating to operations, results of operations, growth strategy and
liquidity. The Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or
revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, or to
update the reasons actual results could differ materially from
those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new
information becomes available in the future.
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