25.03.2018
US company Nanoracks and Kuang-Chi of China have signed a cooperation deal on the near space 'Traveler' helium spacecraft, designed for space tourism and commercial applications.
Shenzhen-based Kuang-Chi has developed a number of craft for near space, and last year sent a live turtle to an altitude of over 20 kilometres aboard Traveler 3.
It is aiming to be able to safely transport people and payloads to an altitude of around 25 kilometres, taking them into the zone known as 'near space' 20-100 kilometres above the Earth.
According to a Nanorack press release, the partnership will focus on the "development of the Traveler program outside of China, leveraging Kuang-Chi’s near space technology and NanoRacks’ expertise in both in-space business development and customer marketing."
NanoRacks is a Houston-based company which provides services for the commercial utilisation of the International Space Station, which last year facilitated sending a 3.5 kg Chinese DNA experiment to ISS and back, despite strong measures by US Congress limiting cooperation between the US and Chinese entities in the realm of space.
“We are very excited to be working with Kuang-Chi on its Near Space Platform,” said NanoRacks CEO Jeffrey Manber.
“This commercial partnership will allow NanoRacks to now offer even more in-space opportunities for our growing customer base. And we look forward to establishing a world-class facility for the Traveler research program in an international location to be announced in the near future.”
Dr Liu Ruopeng, president and co-founder of Kuang-Chi, said, “Enabling Near Space travel to the general public is one of the dreams the founders of Kuang-Chi have had for many years. We welcome working with new partners to bring this dream to the market.”
Zhou Fei, chief commander of the Traveller 3 project, said in October the company was a crew capsule capable of accommodating six people.
According to the South China Morning Post, a representative of Kuang-Chi Group said last year that its space tourism trips would cost about 700,000 yuan (US$105,000).
Liftoff of the helium-filled Traveller 3 near space craft on October 25, 2017.