Private commercial access to ISS

[bitbanger]

If a company or private organization wished to do microgravity research on the ISS, would the ISS partners allow it? Would there be any restrictions on the ownership of any IP developed?

 

[Boris_Badenov]

<font color="yellow"> If a company or private organization wished to <br />do microgravity research on the ISS, would the ISS partners allow it? </font><br /><br /> Microgravity manufacturing returns <br /><font color="orange"> One of the unfortunate tendencies of NASA is for the agency to implement a good idea in a bad way and thereby discredit that idea. Prime examples include RLVs and space tethers. Another is the proposal that microgravity can produce useful scientific knowledge and eventually commercial products. There is a mistaken general impression that NASA's microgravity research failed. In fact, all that has been proven so far is that if a researcher must scale mountains of paperwork, spend many millions of dollars, and still wait years to see a microgravity experiment fly and return results, then he or she is unlikely to bother. <br /> </font><br /><br />It can be done, but nobody gets to send anything in a timely manner. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#993300"><span class="body"><font size="2" color="#3366ff"><div align="center">. </div><div align="center">Never roll in the mud with a pig. You'll both get dirty & the pig likes it.</div></font></span></font> </div>

 

[brellis]

hi BB<br /><br />As an inherently incompetent businessperson, I try to stay out of SB&T discussions <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> but I did start this thread in Amazing Images one day when I started wondering what might happen when the ISS reaches the end of its mission. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><em><strong>I'm a recovering optimist - things could be better.</strong></em></font> </p> </div>

 

[bitbanger]

So while doing microgravity research is technically possible, both cost, paperwork and timeliness are major factors negatively affecting the likelihood that a corporation will attempt to use the ISS to perform said research.<br /><br />I suppose we will have to wait and see, but I suspect it is likely that Bigelow has been contacted by at least a few companies/governments looking for access to his hab space. Just because corporations aren't using the ISS for research doesn't mean that they don't want to.<br /><br />