NanoRacks External Platform. Photo: NanoRacks.

NanoRacks has successfully completed the change out of the second round of its privately owned External Platform (NREP) payloads mounted on the outside of the International Space Station (ISS). Thermo Fisher Scientific/Florida Institute of Technology’s Charge Injection Device (CID) and Honeywell Aerospace/Morehead State University’s Dependable Multiprocessing-7 (DM7) are both operational on the NREP platform and have begun to downlink data.

NREP, which is self-funded by NanoRacks, is externally mounted to the ISS on the Japanese Experiment Module Exposed Facility. Following the CubeSat form factor, payloads can experience microgravity and radiation, observe Earth, test sensors and electronics, and experience other harsh elements native to the space — all while having the ability to return the payload back to Earth. The external platform is also a stepping stone in NanoRacks’ efforts to build a deeper understanding of working in the outside environment of space, including developments in both the NanoRacks Airlock Module and the Ixion concept.

Both CID and DM7 were funded through a Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) solicitation. CASIS is the manager of the ISS U.S. National Laboratory, with the mission to maximize use of this microgravity research platform to benefit of life on Earth.