science

Nanoracks

Nanoracks is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Nanoracks rather than just read about it. In short: Nanoracks LLC is an American private in-space services company which builds space hardware and in-space repurposing tools. The company also facilitates experiments and launches of CubeSats to Low Earth Orbit.

Key takeaways

Nanoracks belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Nanoracks to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Nanoracks from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Nanoracks LLC is an American private in-space services company which builds space hardware and in-space repurposing tools. The company also facilitates experiments and launches of CubeSats to Low Earth Orbit. Nanoracks's main office is in Houston, Texas. The business development office is in Washington, D.C., and additional offices are located in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Turin, Italy.[6][7] Nanoracks provides tools, hardware and services that allow other companies, organizations and governments to conduct research and other projects in space. Nanoracks currently helps facilitate science on the International Space Station in multiple ways and built the Bishop Airlock to launch payloads from the International Space Station. As part of a Series A funding round, XO Markets Holdings Inc. was formed as a holding company for NanoRacks, LLC. As of 2021, Nanoracks is the largest subsidiary of X.O. Markets. In May 2021, Voyager Technologies (formerly Voyager Space Holdings) acquired a majority stake in X.O. Markets, becoming the parent company of Nanoracks and positioning the company within a larger space technology portfolio.

History

Nanoracks was founded in 2009 by Jeffrey Manber and Charles Miller to provide commercial hardware and services for the U.S. National Laboratory on board the International Space Station via a Space Act Agreement with NASA. Nanoracks signed their first contract with NASA in September 2009 and had their first laboratory on the Space Station in April 2010. In August 2012, Nanoracks partnered with Space Florida to host the Space Florida International Space Station (ISS) Research Competition. As part of this program, Nanoracks and DreamUp provide research NanoLab box units to fly payloads to the ISS, with scientific research to be conducted on board the U.S. National Laboratory. In October 2013, Nanoracks became the first company to coordinate the deployment of small satellites from the ISS via the airlock in the Japanese Kibō module. This deployment was done using the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (J-SSOD). By 2015, Nanoracks had deployed 64 satellites into low Earth orbit, and had 16 satellites on the ISS awaiting deployment, with an order backlog of 99. The company also announced an agreement to fly a Chinese DNA experiment from the Beijing Institute of Technology on the International Space Station. The agreement includes Nanoracks delivering the experiment to the American side of the ISS in a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and berthing the experiment to Nanoracks' orbiting laboratory facilities, then sending data back to the Chinese researchers. In 2022, Nanoracks became the first company to cut a piece of metal in space. In December 2020, Voyager Technologies (formerly Voyager Space Holdings) announced its intent to acquire a majority stake in X.O. Markets, the parent company of Nanoracks. The acquisition was completed in May 2021, with Voyager obtaining majority ownership. This strategic move positioned Nanoracks as a key subsidiary within Voyager's growing space technology portfolio.

Facilities and labs

Nanoracks Bishop Airlock

The Nanoracks Bishop Airlock is a commercially-funded airlock module launched to the International Space Station on SpaceX CRS-21 on 6 December 2020. The module was built by Nanoracks, Thales Alenia Space, and Boeing. It will be used to deploy CubeSats, small satellites, and other external payloads for NASA, Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), and other commercial and governmental customers.

Internal ISS Services Nanoracks facilities on the International Space Station (ISS) include the Plate Reader-2 – a Molecular Devices SpectraMax M5e modified for space flight and the microgravity environment. This spectrophotometer analyzes samples by shining light (200-1000 nm) either on or through the top or bottom of each sample in the well of a microplate. The Nanoracks Plate Reader-2 can accommodate cuvettes in special microplate holders as well as 6-, 12-, 24-, 48-, 96-, and 384-well microplates. It can operate in absorbance, fluorescence intensity, or fluorescence polarization modes. Laboratory space on the ISS is provided to Nanoracks by NASA under a contractual lease arrangement.

External ISS Services

Nanoracks deploys small CubeSats into orbit from the ISS through the Nanoracks CubeSat Deployer via the airlock in the Japanese Kibō module, after the satellites are transported to the ISS on a cargo spacecraft. When released, the small satellites are provided a push of about 1 m/s (3.3 ft/s) that begins a slow process of satellite separation from the ISS.

External Platform (NREP)

The Nanoracks External Platform (NREP), installed in August 2016, is a commercial gateway-and-return to the extreme environment of space. Following the CubeSat form factor, payloads experience the microgravity, radiation and other harsh elements native to the space environment, observe earth, test sensors, materials, and electronics, and can return the payload to Earth. The Nanoracks Kaber Microsat Deployer is a reusable system that allows the International Space Station to control and command satellite deployments. It can deploy microsatellites up to 82 kg into space. Microsatellites that are compatible with the Kaber Deployer have additional power, volume, and communication resources, which allows for deployments of higher scope and sophistication.

External Cygnus Deployer (E-NRCSD) The satellite deployment service enabled satellites to be deployed at an altitude higher than the ISS via a Commercial Resupply Vehicle. These satellites are deployed after the completion of the primary cargo delivery mission and can fly at 500 kilometers above Earth and ca. 100 kilometers above the ISS and extends the life of CubeSats already deployed in low-Earth orbit. The Cygnus Deployer holds a total volume of 36U and adds approximately two years to the lifespan of these satellites. E-NRCSD missions:

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Nanoracks

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Nanoracks claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Nanoracks before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Nanoracks ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Nanoracks

In research: Nanoracks appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Nanoracks in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Nanoracks is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Aerospace companies of the United States, Private spaceflight companies, Space Act Agreement companies, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Nanoracks outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Nanoracks in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Nanoracks means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Nanoracks out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Nanoracks in simple terms?

Why does Nanoracks matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Nanoracks?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Nanoracks.