NASA laid out a plan Friday to open the International Space Station to expanded commercial activities, including space tourism.

It won’t be cheap. NASA estimated a trip would cost a private astronaut $58 million, with additional estimated $35,000 charges for each day spent on the space station.

Two paying space tourists could begin visits of up to 30 days as soon as 2020, NASA officials said at a news conference Friday in New York.

The move could help NASA raise money as it looks to focus its resources beyond low-Earth orbit — where the space station is located — and toward its plan to send U.S. astronauts to the moon by 2024. Revenue generated by a larger commercial presence might offset NASA’s cost to operate and support the space station, which totals about $3 billion to $4 billion each year, according to a NASA Office of Inspector General report. That, in turn, could shift funds toward the moon mission, NASA Chief Financial Officer Jeff DeWit said during the news conference.

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For almost two decades since it was first occupied in 2000, the International Space Station has served as a continuously occupied hub for scientific and commercial research and development. Although expanded commercialization has been discussed for years, such a plan represents a change in the program’s status quo, said Marco Caceres, senior space analyst at market research firm Teal Group.

“It’s no longer just for science and research,” he said. “You’re allowing ventures to come in and use that space for profit, for making money. That’s not a small thing.”

Companies that want to conduct commercial or marketing work on the space station must meet one of at least three requirements — that the work requires the “unique microgravity environment” aboard for production of some commercial application, that it is connected to a NASA mission, or that it supports the development of a “sustainable” economy in low-Earth orbit, according to NASA.

In return, NASA said it would allocate about 5% of its resources on the station to accommodate commercial activities. Interested companies will be reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis.

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Several industries have already dabbled in research aboard the space station. Several years ago, pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly conducted an experiment on the station to investigate how medicine tablets dissolve. Jacksonville, Fla.-based Made in Space has made optical-fiber cables on the station, taking advantage of microgravity to help prevent manufacturing flaws.

NASA has increasingly relied on commercial companies to handle tasks the agency used to take the lead on. Hawthorne-based SpaceX and Northrop Grumman Corp. currently transport supplies for NASA to the space station, and SpaceX and Boeing Co. are in the latter stages of testing and developing spacecraft that will take NASA astronauts there.

Those vehicles can now also be used for the twice-yearly private astronaut missions. In addition to the $58-million seat cost, tourists will be charged $11,250 per day for use of the station’s life support system and toilet; crew supplies, including food, air and medical supplies, would cost $22,500 per day. Smaller fees include use of power and data.

Allowing paying tourists to visit the space station is not unprecedented — the Russian space agency has transported a handful of private astronauts over the years through a company called Space Adventures. NASA’s move into this market is “about 20 years too late,” said Laura Forczyk, owner of space consulting firm Astralytical.

“Russia embraced the concept of flying private astronauts because they needed the money,” she said. “Now NASA’s finding itself in a similar situation where it needs to free up money … to focus on [the lunar] gateway and Artemis lunar plans, and at least at this point, it’s not getting much of an increase from Congress.”

NASA said it had briefed its international partners — space agencies from Russia, Japan, Europe and Canada — on the plan and that all resources involved would come from the U.S. agency’s allocation.

Hovering over NASA’s plan is the question of how long the space station will be habitable. NASA originally expected its service life to end in 2015, but then extended that several times. Its final run is now scheduled for 2024. The agency is considering another extension to 2028, according to a statement last year by NASA’s inspector general before a Senate subcommittee.

“Eventually, the space station we have … will wear out,” said Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator of NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. “The physical hardware won’t be able to be maintained. It’ll become cost-prohibitive for us to keep it operating.”

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The idea here is to “start early” and determine whether there are private-sector space stations that could meet the agency’s future needs, he said. NASA officials said there was no set date for a transition from a NASA-operated space station and a privately owned one.

“This is not going to be, ‘It’s NASA today, [and] all the commercial sector tomorrow,” Gerstenmaier said. “This is going to be a nice transition period between us.”

But the looming specter of the station’s eventual end could make companies less interested in commercial opportunities.

“Any company that is wanting to invest in doing something commercial on the station isn’t going to do it thinking, ‘We can only do it for a couple of years,’” said Caceres, the Teal Group analyst. “Until we know what the future of the space station is long-term, I have a hard time believing any company would want to invest their time and money in doing it.”

NASA officials said it was too early to project how much revenue the agency could get from commercialization.

“This is not going to be a profit-making venture for NASA at all,” DeWit said. “But it will help defray expenses.” </s> It’s official: The International Space Station is open for business.

Speaking at the Nasdaq Stock Exchange in New York, NASA officials on Friday unveiled a plan to allow private companies to make use of the space station starting next year.

The plan would allow up to two private astronaut missions per year to visit the space station for up to 30 days and offer companies the opportunity to conduct experiments and pursue other activities there. NASA would also devote one docking port to private operations, which might include attaching an additional module to the station.

“We have no idea what kind of creativity and literally out-of-this-world ideas can come from private industry,” Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator of NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate in Washington, said at the New York event.

Gerstenmaier called the plan a key transition in the life of the space station, which has been orbiting Earth for two decades. “Think about how this space station that we put together to do research, education and outreach is now going to be used to put together a business model,” he said. “How could we ever imagine that this space station would have any role, when it was originally designed, in developing new business markets.”

Opening the station to commercial ventures will enable the space agency to focus its resources on returning astronauts to the moon and a subsequent mission to Mars. “NASA by its very nature is an exploration agency,” Gerstenmaier said.

Robyn Gatens, deputy director of the space station program at NASA headquarters in Washington, said the first commercial flights to the station could begin in 2020.

Private astronauts will be able to fly to the station aboard a commercial capsule, such as SpaceX’s Crew Dragon or Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner — both of which are still in development and have yet to carry humans. A flight to the space station will likely cost about $58 million per passenger, with a stay at the station costing roughly $35,000 per night for each astronaut, said Jeff DeWit, chief financial officer at NASA headquarters.

The first components used to build the station were launched into space in 1998. The space lab, constructed entirely in low-Earth orbit, is a partnership of the U.S., Canada, Japan, Russia and 11 members states of the European Space Agency.
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SIGN UP FOR THE MACH NEWSLETTER AND FOLLOW NBC NEWS MACH ON TWITTER, FACEBOOK, AND INSTAGRAM. </s> NASA said Friday it will open up the International Space Station for tourism and other business ventures as of next year, as it seeks to financially disengage from the orbiting research lab.

"NASA is opening the International Space Station to commercial opportunities and marketing these opportunities as we've never done before," NASA chief financial officer Jeff DeWit said in New York.

There will be up to two short private astronaut missions per year, said Robyn Gatens, deputy director of the ISS. </s> "Providing expanded opportunities at the International Space Station to manufacture, market and promote commercial products and services will help catalyze and expand space exploration markets for many businesses," the agency said. Private astronauts will be granted missions of up to 30 days to work on commercial projects, and we might see products manufactured in space for sale on Earth. NASA is now soliciting proposals for commercial concepts, and at the Nasdaq stock exchange today, it released preliminary pricing.

According to CNBC, NASA has long considered offsetting its operating costs by commercializing the ISS. Perhaps the incentive to finally do so is the fact that private companies like SpaceX and Boeing have made advances towards commercial spaceflight, and Jeff Bezos has revealed his ambitious plans to put manufacturing on the moon. As NASA said in a press release, its long-term goal is "to become one of many customers purchasing services from independent, commercial and free-flying habitable destinations in low-Earth orbit." </s> Get your (space) passports ready: NASA will allow tourists to visit the International Space Station (ISS) from 2020.

NASA announced Friday it would open the orbiting station to tourism and commercial ventures, allowing businesses use of the space station facilities, including filming movies and commercials.

“NASA is opening the International Space Station to commercial opportunities and marketing these opportunities as we’ve never done before,” NASA chief financial officer Jeff DeWit said in New York.

“NASA will continue research and testing in low-Earth orbit to inform its lunar exploration plans, while also working with the private sector to test technologies, train astronauts and strengthen the burgeoning space economy,” the agency said in a press release.

The space agency said the private astronauts would be permitted to travel to the ISS, which has been continually occupied since November 2000, for up to 30 days. The tourists would travel on a U.S. spacecraft developed under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

Both Boeing and SpaceX are currently developing capsules that can carry humans to the ISS.

The commercial entity developing the mission will determine crew composition for each mission and ensure private astronauts meet NASA’s medical standards and the training and certification procedures for International Space Station crew members, according to NASA.

There will be up to two short private astronaut missions per year, according to Robyn Gatens, the deputy director of the ISS.

NASA will also allow those companies to use resources on the ISS for commercial purposes, even making use of NASA astronauts’ time and expertise (but not their likeness), The Verge noted.

Companies can start sending astronauts to the ISS as early as 2020 — if they can afford it. It’s expected that a trip will cost around $50 million per astronaut.

NASA had previously banned any commercial use of the space station and prohibited astronauts from taking part in for-profit research, BBC News reported.

On the other hand, Russia has been more open to placing advertisements on the ISS and has sent tourists to the space station before.

Watch: This Space Harpoon Could Be a Solution to the Space Junk Problem </s> NASA HAS ANNOUNCED it could open up the International Space Station (ISS) to tourist ventures as it seeks to financially disengage from the research lab.

Deputy director of the ISS Robyn Gatens suggested that the station could host up to two short private astronaut missions every year.

It is proposed that the missions would be for stays of up to 30 days, and that as many as a dozen private astronauts could visit the ISS per year for $35,000 (€30,869) a night.

Tourists would be ferried to the orbiter exclusively by the two companies currently developing transport vehicles for NASA: the Elon Musk-owned SpaceX, with its Crew Dragon capsule, and Boeing, which is building one called Starliner.

The companies would choose the clients and bill for the trip to the ISS, which will be the most expensive part of the adventure: around $58 million (€51 million) for a round trip.

But tourists will also pay NASA for their stay in space, for food, water and use of the life support system on the orbiter.

That will run about $35,000 per night per astronaut, NASA chief financial officer Jeff DeWit said.

“NASA is opening the International Space Station to commercial opportunities and marketing these opportunities as we’ve never done before,” he told reporters in New York.

The space station does not belong to NASA. It was built along with Russia starting in 1998, and other countries participate in the mission and send up astronauts.

But the US has paid for and controls most of the modules that make up the orbiter.

The new space tourists to the ISS will not be the first: US businessman Dennis Tito had that honor in 2001. when he paid Russia around $20 million (€17 million) for the trip. </s> NEW YORK: NASA said Friday it will open up the International Space Station to business ventures including space tourism - with stays priced at US$35,000 a night - as it seeks to financially disengage from the orbiting research lab.

"NASA is opening the International Space Station to commercial opportunities and marketing these opportunities as we've never done before," NASA chief financial officer Jeff DeWit said in New York.

There will be up to two short private astronaut missions per year, said Robyn Gatens, deputy director of the ISS.

The missions will be for stays of up to 30 days. As many as a dozen private astronauts could visit the ISS per year, NASA said.

These travelers would be ferried to the orbiter exclusively by the two companies currently developing transport vehicles for NASA: SpaceX, with its Crew Dragon capsule, and Boeing, which is building one called Starliner.

These companies would choose the clients and bill for the trip to the ISS, which will be the most expensive part of the adventure: around US$58 million for a round trip ticket.

That is the average rate the companies will bill NASA for taking the space adventurers up to the ISS.

But the tourists will also pay NASA for their stay in space, for food, water and use of the life support system on the orbiter.

That will run about US$35,000 per night per astronaut, said DeWit.

The space station does not belong to NASA. It was built along with Russia starting in 1998, and other countries participate in the mission and send up astronauts.

But the US has paid for and controls most of the modules that make up the orbiter.

The new space tourists to the ISS will not be the first: US businessman Dennis Tito had that honor in 2001. He paid Russia around US$20 million for the trip. </s> NEW YORK — As NASA shifts its priorities to landing astronauts to the moon , it is opening the International Space Station for commercial business, agency officials announced today (June 7) at a news conference here at the Nasdaq MarketSite.

Private companies can now apply to launch short-duration commercial crew missions to the International Space Station (ISS) to conduct for-profit activities like off-Earth manufacturing , marketing and advertising.

Although the private astronauts won't work for NASA, they will still receive rigorous astronaut training from NASA to ensure that they are qualified for spaceflight. Those astronauts will be able to launch on commercial crew vehicles like SpaceX's Crew Dragon and Boeing's CST-100 Starliner.

Related: Low Earth Orbit Commercialization Studies Show Wide Range of Markets and Demand

NASA is currently planning to end its support of the ISS by 2024, the same year that NASA astronauts are slated to return to the surface of the moon. With or without NASA, the 20-year-old station is approaching the end of its lifetime . So, rather than abandoning the aging laboratory, NASA is transitioning the station's operations to the private sector to stimulate the development of a low-Earth-orbit economy and give companies a place to demonstrate technologies needed for the 2024 moon landing .

Commercializing the ISS "will enable NASA to focus resources to land the next man and the first woman on the moon by 2024," Jeff DeWit, NASA's chief financial officer, told reporters during the news conference.

After 2024, the ISS will be in the hands of NASA's commercial and international partners, but the agency isn't retreating from the station entirely. Rather, NASA will become one of many customers that can purchase services at the ISS at a lower cost to taxpayers than what it currently costs for NASA to those things on its own, DeWit said.

More than 50 companies are already using the ISS for research and development. Under NASA's new policy, commercial entities will have the opportunity to broaden the scope of their activities at the orbiting lab, to include manufacturing, marketing, advertising and other for-profit activities, Robyn Gatens, NASA's deputy director for the ISS program, said at the news conference.

NASA has published detailed guidelines for private companies wishing to apply for use of the ISS, which you can read here . </s> NASA said Friday it will open up the International Space Station to business ventures including space tourism as it seeks to financially disengage from the orbiting research lab.

Price tag? Tens of millions of dollars for a round trip ticket and $35,000 a night.

"NASA is opening the International Space Station to commercial opportunities and marketing these opportunities as we've never done before," NASA chief financial officer Jeff DeWit said in an announcement made at the Nasdaq stock exchange in New York.

There will be up to two short private astronaut missions per year, said Robyn Gatens, deputy director of the ISS.

The missions will be for stays of up to 30 days. As many as a dozen private astronauts could visit the ISS per year, NASA said.

These travelers would be ferried to the orbiter exclusively by the two US companies currently developing transport vehicles for NASA: SpaceX, with its Crew Dragon capsule, and Boeing, which is building one called Starliner.

These companies would choose the clients—who will not have to be US citizens—and bill for the trip to the ISS, which will be the most expensive part of the adventure: around $58 million for a roundtrip ticket.

That is the average rate the companies will bill NASA for taking the space adventurers up to the ISS.

Neither Dragon nor Starliner are ready. Their transport capsules are supposed to be ready in late 2019 but the timetable depends on the results of a series of tests. So the private missions will have to wait until 2020 at the earliest.

The tourists will pay NASA for their use of the station, for food, water and use of the life support system.

That will run about $35,000 per night per astronaut, said DeWit.

That does not include internet, which will cost $50 per gigabyte.

The space station does not belong to NASA. It was built along with Russia starting in 1998, and other countries participate in the mission and send up astronauts.

But the United States has paid for and controls most of the modules that make it up.

The new space tourists to the ISS will not be the first: US businessman Dennis Tito had that honor in 2001. He paid Russia around $20 million for the trip.

Others followed in his footsteps, the last being Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte in 2009.

Since 2011, Russian Soyuz rockets have been the only way to get to the space station. And they have transported only space agency astronauts, in addition to Russian cosmonauts.

There are usually three to six crew members on the ISS at any given time. Right now it is home to three Americans, two Russians and a Canadian.

The policy change announced Friday includes the opening of parts of the ISS to private sector companies for commercial and marketing activity.

This would include startups developing techiques for building materials in conditions of weightlessness.

Fiber optic cables, for example, are of extraordinary quality when manufactured in microgravity.

The idea is to develop the space economy in the hope of seeing the private sector take over the ISS, which the United States hopes to stop financing in the late 2020s.

"We want to be there as a tenant, not as the landlord," NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said in April.

The agency wants to free up funds for a return to the moon mission called Artemis in 2024 and for sending the first humans to Mars, perhaps in the 2030s.

But it remains unclear if commercial activity in earth orbit is profitable because it is still so expensive to get up there in the first place.

In the end, NASA appears to have changed its stance in order to meet its huge budget needs.

When Russia announced it was taking Tito to the space station, NASA was at first opposed to such a mission. And it ended up sending the Russians a bill for his stay on the ISS.
NASA announces that the International Space Station will be opened for commercial business in 2020 for $58 million.