New Chinese experiment may be rocketing to International Space Station

China 24

It looks as though there may be another Chinese experiment rocketing to the International Space Station before the year is out.

That’s according to the CEO of NanoRacks, a private company that calls itself the “concierge to the cosmos.”

CGTN’s Sean Callebs reports.

“We are talking not only with the Beijing Institute of Technology to do another project, we are talking with other organizations,” CEO Jeff Manber said. “I think in the next six months we will do some follow-ups.”

U.S. federal law bans NASA from working with the Chinese, so it was no small accomplishment when in June NanoRacks and a SpaceX rocket carried a DNA experiment from the Beijing Institute of Technology to the International Space Station.

NanoRack’s CEO points out there is no law keeping China from working with a private U.S. space firm, which provides a way around federal restrictions. This is one reason why NanoRacks is cooperating with 30 countries, including China.

The process of getting into space is made easier because NanoRacks has its own hardware aboard the ISS.

“We own the platform, so it is not like NASA is working directly with the Chinese,” according to Manber. “We worked really hard to work with some in Congress to make sure there is no technology transfer.”

The CEO is well-placed to navigate his company through a complex maze of bureaucracy and government red tape. For nearly a decade he worked for Russia, marketing the old Mir Space Station to clients.

Soon, NanoRacks will have its own private airlock on the space station, giving it even more access.


Yang Yuguang discusses historic mission delivering Chinese research to ISS

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