麻豆传媒

LAST year, NASA declared the International Space Station open for business. Although firms could already do research on the ISS under contract with NASA, the agency hoped to stimulate pure commerce, including the manufacture of and the development of on-orbit industries that could support NASA鈥檚 deep space exploration goals 鈥� not to mention bringing in some cash.

Instead, it got beauty product marketing with Est茅e Lauder, sports shoe design with Adidas and the transport of space tourism trinkets.

Space Act Agreements between the agency and various companies show that some of the first purely commercial activities that NASA astronauts will participate in have little to do with advancing science or enabling future space missions. They are also effectively being heavily subsidised by the agency, which is charging below-cost cargo fees to the firms involved.

Space souvenirs

In November, a SpaceX resupply mission to the ISS is scheduled to carry essential supplies, a new airlock and a bag of commemorative items supplied by French company Toucan Space. Consumers a 鈥淔lown to the ISS鈥� sticker for 鈧�199, a bookmark for 鈧�299 or a postcard featuring a classic NASA photo for 鈧�499.

The enterprise has been organised through a US start-up called Techshot. 鈥淒emonstrating the business viability of selling space-flown items will support development of a sustainable LEO [low Earth orbit] economy,鈥� reads . 鈥淭echshot鈥檚 proposal to fly these items will provide a pilot demonstration to markets to stimulate further business interest鈥� and eventually achieve reinvestment of profits into further commercial LEO ventures and infrastructure.鈥�

Meanwhile, Alpha Space, a Texas-based firm with a testing facility permanently installed to the outside of the ISS, has signed an agreement with NASA to repurpose some of its scientific cargo capacity for 鈥渓uxury goods and memorabilia鈥� flown to space.

Techshot and Alpha Space will each pay NASA $10,116 for every kilogram of items carried to and from the space station. This represents a significant discount on the agency鈥檚 actual costs. According to a , NASA is paying more than $70,000 to ship each kilogram of supplies to the station. Neither agreement requires the companies to reinvest profits in future space activities or with NASA itself.

A NASA spokesperson told 麻豆传媒 it developed its pricing policy to stimulate demand and that the price covers only some of its costs. 鈥淸The agency] will periodically reassess the pricing policy with the goal to eventually move to full cost,鈥� they said.

鈥�$10k
Cost per kilogram NASA is charging for sending commercial cargo to the ISS鈥�

鈥淲e need to kick-start this new way of working with NASA,鈥� says Rich Boling at Techshot. 鈥淚f there is a terrific demand, perhaps the number should be increased to fully recoup costs.鈥�

Toucan Space鈥檚 and Alpha Space鈥檚 objects are likely to remain in cargo bags within the SpaceX spacecraft until they return to Earth, but that isn鈥檛 the case for NASA鈥檚 first purely commercial project, which is due to go up on a Northrop Grumman resupply mission at the end of this month.

Boston-based company Space Commerce Matters (SCM) has signed with NASA to send up to 10 bottles of a 鈥渘ewly formulated鈥� Est茅e Lauder product to the ISS as part of a maximum 5-kilogram payload. Under the deal, NASA astronauts will spend over 4 hours producing video and other imagery of the bottles. In all, SCM will pay NASA $128,000, which includes astronaut time at around $17,500 per hour.

鈥淚f the circus is necessary to maintain the International Space Station, it鈥檚 probably a good trade-off鈥�

Neither SCM nor Est茅e Lauder replied to requests for comment. However, in an , St茅phane de La Faverie, group president of Est茅e Lauder, revealed that the bottles were a new formulation of its Advanced Night Repair skin serum. 鈥淲e鈥檙e constantly pushing the boundaries of how to showcase our products,鈥� he said.

The right sniff

ISS residents might appreciate the arrival of fragrant products. In an in 2017, astronaut Scott Kelly likened the space station鈥檚 aroma to that of a jail, a 鈥渃ombination of antiseptic, garbage, and body odor鈥�.

However, former astronaut Tim Kopra, who flew on two ISS missions, says most perfumes and lotions are forbidden on board. 鈥淲e have very select personal hygiene products that have been tested and approved to ensure they don鈥檛 mess up our hardware,鈥� he says. For example, anything containing alcohol is banned as it can foul up the air filtration equipment. NASA confirmed that the Est茅e Lauder product won鈥檛 be used on the ISS.

Adidas is also exploring the possibility of getting its products into orbit, having to collaborate on technologies to help astronauts train for space and on developing more sustainable footwear. Part of that effort could include testing materials, clothing and shoes on the ISS, the deal says.

NASA has long had strict rules about not endorsing specific products or services, and recently added new guidelines for the ISS. Commercials made there cannot depict NASA astronauts or mention that they or the agency helped with filming.

But any time that NASA crew spend on commercial activities could detract from their other duties. 鈥淲e have a prescribed number of hours that we work on science every day,鈥� says Kopra, who now works for Canadian company MDA, which made robotic arms for the space shuttle and the ISS. Astronauts also maintain the space station and exercise every day to preserve bone density and muscle mass, he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a pretty jam-packed time frame.鈥�

In addition, every cargo bag of mementos or beauty products that makes it to orbit means one fewer bag of scientific experiments. In the August panel discussion, Christine Kretz at the ISS National Laboratory, which organises research on the space station, that NASA was now allocating 5 per cent of its annual payload to commercial 鈥渘on-research, non-sciencey鈥� activities like the Est茅e Lauder promo. That corresponds to as much as .

鈥淯ndoubtedly, [a beauty product video] gets in the way of real science,鈥� says Todd Humphreys at the University of Texas at Austin, who had installed on the ISS in 2017. 鈥淏ut if the circus is necessary to maintain the station, and serious lab work can still be done when the cameras aren鈥檛 rolling, it鈥檚 probably a good trade-off.鈥�

The research situation may become more complicated once private individuals begin flying to the ISS. NASA is already working on a feasibility assessment for private missions with Virgin Galactic astronauts. Actor Tom Cruise is even due to .

The clock is also ticking on the space station itself, which is due to lose official NASA support in 2024. 鈥淭he ISS could be a stepping stone to what may be possible on the moon,鈥� says Saadia Pekkanen at the Space Policy and Research Center at the University of Washington, Seattle. 鈥淲e have to start changing our ideas and build some sort of a commercial platform.鈥�

For its part, Est茅e Lauder has indicated it is interested in more than just an orbital photo shoot. The company has committed to sponsoring research into producing sustainable alternatives to plastic in microgravity. 鈥淥ur mission is to make every woman beautiful, but if we can also make the world a better place [that would be] critical,鈥� said de La Faverie during the online panel.

鈥淭he ISS has been a huge boon to science over its lifetime,鈥� says Humphreys. 鈥淚 much prefer the prospect of a commercial ISS than no ISS at all after 2024, or one controlled only by international partners.鈥�

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