Alpha Space’s Commercial Test Facility En Route to Provide Unique, In-Space Capability

HOUSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Alpha
Space Test and Research Alliance, LLC (Alpha Space) announced today
the launch of its commercial science and testing facility “MISSE” to the
International Space Station (ISS) aboard the SpaceX CRS-14 resupply
mission. Alpha Space owns and operates the MISSE, an orbiting commercial
science facility that will be permanently installed on the exterior of
the ISS later this month, and serves the space research, testing and
materials science communities.

“This is an exciting time for NASA and the growing commercial space
industry,” stated Mark Gittleman, Alpha Space president and CEO. “Our
new MISSE facility offers both the traditional and commercial aerospace
communities, as well as NASA, a unique, in-space testing and exposure
capability that is inexpensive, easy to get to, and easy to use.”

Alpha Space will continue to launch and return test samples
approximately every six months for the rest of ISS’s planned life,
working through a cooperative agreement with NASA and a user agreement
with the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, or CASIS. By
making the facility permanent, Alpha Space and NASA have dramatically
reduced the cost and logistical difficulties of testing in space. They
have also created the ability to provide extended exposure to the space
environment, for years at a time if required.

“Our customers – which include scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs –
simply deliver their samples or components to us and we take care of the
rest,” stated Gittleman. “Soon their product is on-orbit, and we’re
delivering data back to them and, unlike most other flight tests, they
get their samples back when their time on orbit is over.”

The experiment complement on the current MISSE is composed of 229
individual samples from a mix of commercial customers and NASA centers.
Samples include 3-D printed materials, sensors, sensor components,
textiles, carbon fiber laminates, paints, coatings, polymers and
composites. Exposure times range from six to twelve months.

“Alpha Space is actively accepting samples and experiments for its next
two flights, scheduled for November of this year and May of 2019,”
shared Gittleman.

For more information on the current MISSE launch, visit the Alpha
Space website.

About Alpha Space Test & Research Alliance, LLC

Alpha Space, which serves the space research, testing, and materials
science communities, owns and operates the MISSE – an orbiting
commercial science and testing facility permanently installed on the
exterior of the International Space Station. The woman- and
minority-owned company provides turn-key, fixed-price services that make
getting science and test elements safely into space – and data and
materials back to earth – as simple and inexpensive as possible. If it
fits, it flies.

Contacts

MEI Technologies, Inc. (MEIT)
On behalf of Alpha Space
Cristina
Mire, (281) 283-6031
[email protected]