The International Space Station & NanoRacks
NANORACKS: SPACE INDUSTRY LEADER
Garrison Construction Group Constructs NanoRacks Office
NanoRacks Provides Unprecedented Commercial Access to Space
Last week (August 28, 2019), the Houston Chronicle published an article highlighting NanoRacks, a company at the forefront of commercial space industry development. According to the article, the NanoRacks Bishop Airlock “will become the first complex commercially developed and privately owned element on the International Space Station.”
Garrison Construction Group Involvement
Garrison Construction Group is proud to serve as General Contractor, working with Colliers International and architectural firm CDI Douglass Pye, to construct the new NanoRacks office, a 22,000 square-foot space located in Webster, Texas.
Following find more information, including excerpts from the Houston Chronicle article, other resources and why we think NanoRacks is so cool.
ABOUT NANORACKS
NanoRacks Reduces Barriers to Entry for Commercial Space Development
NanoRacks on the International Space Station
NanoRacks is the largest commercial user and private investor on the International Space Station and operates permanently installed research platforms, called NanoLabs, aboard the International Space Station. Via this infrastructure, NanoRacks offers companies and institutions unprecedented access to conduct experiments and to launch satellites in space.
Exponential Cost Reduction
According to a Space News Op-ed, NanoRacks has “lowered the cost of launching and testing new satellite technology from space {from between $5M - $10M at decade ago} to under $100,000, and has reduced the lead time for launching to under a year.” For educational research, the Chronicle cites NanoRacks fees as low as $15,000.
$20M Bishop Airlock Project to Further Increase Space Access
As explained by the Chronicle, the $20M Bishop Airlock represents a milestone for both NanoRacks and the overall commercial space industry and “will become the first complex commercially developed and privately owned element on the International Space Station.”
“Five times larger than the airlock NanoRacks currently uses,” the Bishop Airlock will “increase the number and size of satellites, equipment and experiments that can access space.” According to NanoRacks COO Stephanie Purgerson, it will also “increase the amount or research that can happen.”
BIG PICTURE IMPACT
Our Opinion: Good for Quality of Life, Good for Houston
Garrison Construction Group is proud to support the NanoRacks office renovation. In our opinion, NanoRacks and the work they facilitate has the potential to positively impact not only Houston but human-kind quality of life as a whole - no small feat.
Quality of Life: Space Industry Developments
According to NASA’s JPL, many technologies that we enjoy today, from Memory Foam mattresses to camera phones to scratch resistant lenses, “would not have been developed” without space exploration. Now, with increased commercial access to space, Morgan Stanley “estimates that the global space industry could generate revenue of more than $1 trillion by 2040.” Imagine the potential new technologies, from a global telecom network that enables constant connectivity to sustaining human-life on other planets.
Good for Houston: AeroSpace Industry Economic Development
Garrison Construction Group is proudly based in Houston, a city with a long aerospace industry history. Among the burgeoning, commercial space sector, having industry leader NanoRacks in Houston is a plus. According to the Chronicle, Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership President, Bob Mitchell “hopes NanoRacks’ success will lure other commercial space companies to the Clear Lake area.” We hope so too.
NANORACKS OFFICE BUILD-OUT
Bishop Airlock Storage Clean Room & More
Construction In Progress: Offices & Technical Spaces
The still-in-progress build-out of the new, NanoRacks offices is now in its third phase. Garrison Construction Group has served as general contractor since phase one. Upon completion, the 22,000 square-foot facility will house NanoRacks offices, “an avionics lab for electronic systems and a wet lab for biological experiments.”
Bishop Airlock Storage Clean Room Complete
Within the new facility, the 625-square-foot “clean room” that currently houses the $20M Bishop Airlock is already complete. A technically critical space, “visitors must don shoe covers, hairnets and lab coat-like jackets to protect the airlock from lint, hair or small fibers. If these hitchhike to space, they could clog the environmental control systems that make the space station habitable.”
When the Bishop Airlock arrived for installation at the Clean Room. Photo source: NanoRacks Instagram
MORE INFORMATION & SOURCES
For source articles and more information, please see links below.
Houston Chronicle article written by Andrea Leinfelder and published on August 28, 2019
Space News article, written by Charles Miller, NanoRacks Co-Founder and serial space entrepreneur
NASA JPL - “Technologies Developed from Space Travel”
Morgan Stanley - “Investing in Space”
The opinions expressed by Garrison Construction Group, LLC do not necessarily reflect the opinions of NanoRacks, Colliers International, CDI Douglass Pye, the Houston Chronicle, Space News, Bay Area Houston or any other source cited within this post