Companies are constantly looking for new possibilities to optimize their products and processes in order to stay competitive. This goal can be achieved only by doing research. The ISS Commercial Agent Network of the European Space Agency ESA offers companies the opportunity to access and use the unique research environment on board the International Space Station.

Life on earth is characterized by gravity. But what happens to microorganisms, plants and the human body, if gravity is «switched off»? In which way do organisms adapt to altered environmental conditions and which conclusions can be drawn to the benefit of humanity on earth? Scientists all over Europe have been investigating these issues for years.
With the set-up of the International Space Station ISS, a unique research environment has been made available to European scientists for five years now. With the plasma crystal experiment (PKE-Nefedov), the first European experiment was implemented on board the ISS in March 2001. This experiment is expected to produce new findings in the area of materials science, which could contribute to the development of environmentally friendly solar technologies or micro chips. Currently, the third measurement sequence is being prepared already. In addition, numerous experiments have been carried out in the areas of biotechnology and medical research.
The space environment offers unique possibilities to study health problems related to various diseases, ageing and immobility. The exposure to microgravity over a longer period of time, for instance, leads to an accelerated loss of bone and muscle mass. Microgravity conditions hence allow a time-lapse observation of the terrestrial problems experienced by ill and older people or those confined to bed. Therefore, research activities may focus on osteoporosis, cardiovascular problems, muscle atrophy and nutrition, and will help understand the effects of physiological adaptation and the environment on health, in order to develop clinical counter measures and advanced instrumentation for monitoring and diagnostics.

Industry’s gateway towards
commercial projects in space
The European Space Agency ESA opens now one third of the resources available on board the ISS for research projects of innovative European companies. Besides the research opportunities briefly described above, ISS offers many more possibilities; the harsh environmental conditions on board the ISS and the strict safety and security requirements to be fulfilled can be used, for instance, for the development of innovative diagnostic tools and equipment. The need to miniaturize equipment and to achieve maximum reliability is increasingly gaining importance for many applications on earth as well.
ESA has appointed the ISS Commercial Agent to offer companies enhanced possibilities to access the spaceflight sector. To this end, the Commercial Agent Network has been charged by ESA as exclusive partner to market and sell the European research facilities on board the ISS to companies from the biotechnology, health, food and nutrition market sectors throughout Europe. The Commercial Agent’s objective is to bridge the gap between spaceflight and industrial companies and to match ISS utilisation opportunities and the needs of particular industry sectors. Coordinated by ISS Lab Ruhr GmbH (Dortmund, Germany) the network comprises leading experts from industry, science and spaceflight sector. The members of the Commercial Agent Network are AGT Engineering (Rome, Italy), EMBLEM Technology Transfer GmbH (Heidelberg, Germany) and MEDES (Toulouse, France).
The Commercial Agent Network offers customers end-to-end support from the project idea all the way to project implementation and consulting services in areas such as project financing and IP management. It has the function of a central contact point and serves as interface between industry and the spaceflight sector. The Commercial Agent Network, together with the European Space Agency ESA, enables commercial customers to use the ISS not only for research and development projects but also for marketing, promotion and edutainment activities. Due to the technical expertise and profound experience of each partner, the Commercial Agent Network is able to offer comprehensive customer and project support services. ®