Kenneth Shields, CASIS operations director, Akos Hegyi, Airbus Defense and Space EDRS Services head, Kris Kimel, Space Tango chairman and co-founder, Andrew Rush, Made in Space president and chief executive, Christian Maender, Axiom Space director of in-space manufacturing and research, and Mike Read, NASA commercial space utilization office manager, discussed ways to develop sustainable demand for low Earth orbit services during the 2018 ISS Research and Development conference in San Francisco. Credit: SpaceNews/Debra Werner

Microgravity entrepreneurs eager to know what comes after ISS

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Uncertainty over the timing of the orbiting outpost’s retirement and the eventual transition to one or more new platforms is making it challenging for companies to attract investors and plan for the future.

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Expedition 56 Flight Engineer Serena Auñón-Chancellor of NASA in the Destiny laboratory module June 11 with gear for measuring and analyzing red blood cell function to help doctors understand how blood cell production is altered in microgravity. Credit: NASA Johnson via Flickr

Trump wants NASA out of the ISS operations business. Easier said than done.

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For clues on the space station’s current status and the transition ahead, SpaceNews spoke with Sam Scimemi, ISS director at NASA headquarters.

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Sam Scimemi, NASA's International Space Station director. Credit: NASA TV screen grab

NASA’s ISS Director explains the role commercial industry could play in operating ISS. Spoiler: Station is not for sale.

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Since NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine told the Washington Post that a commercial consortium could take over International Space Station operations, a flurry of articles have appeared about the proposed “sale” of the orbiting outpost. SpaceNews checked in with Sam Scimemi, ISS director at NASA headquarters, and found out what the agency has in mind isn’t as dramatic a departure as that.

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