Voyager Space Holdings intends to take a majority stake in the parent company of Nanoracks, a space services and hardware specialist that has sent more than 1,000 missions to the International Space Station."With Voyager, we have a platform that allows us to grow into the entire in-space services infrastructure development, with a financial sophistication and synergy that we just frankly would not have on our own," Nanoracks CEO Jeff Manber told CNBC.
While Voyager Space Holdings did not disclose the financial details of the deal — with Taylor only noting that "we're infusing quite a bit of cash in the business" to help it grow — people familiar with the transaction told CNBC that Voyager plans to invest more than $50 million in Nanoracks over the coming year.
In return, Manber sees Nanoracks "providing the core" of Voyager's space efforts, with new access to the company's mission control room in Houston, Texas, as well as facilities across the country and talent that has experience working with a variety of payloads that have gone to space.The Nanoracks-built Bishop airlock is installed via the robotic Canadarm2 on the International Space Station.
Manber sees Nanoracks' growth in a strategy of three pillars, the first of which is its current utilization of the ISS.But "the space station is aging," Manber said, so he wants Nanoracks to be involved in "private space stations that are market-focused" moving forward. He expects "small private space stations," each focused on individual markets, will be launched in the coming decade, with "some hotels and some for professional astronauts.
nice