NASA hikes prices for commercial ISS users

WASHINGTON — NASA has sharply increased the prices it charges commercial users of the International Space Station for cargo and other resources, a move that has left some companies confused and frustrated.

NASA announced Feb. 25 that it was revising the commercial marketing pricing policy it first published in June 2019 as part of a new low Earth orbit commercialization strategy. That policy, which set aside a fraction of station resources for commercial applications beyond research and development, included a price list for resources such as cargo to and from the station and crew time to carry out work.

In the statement, published with little fanfare on the agency’s website, NASA said it was updating that price list “to reflect full reimbursement for the value of NASA resources.” The decision to do so, NASA said, was based on “discussions with stakeholders, the current market growth, and in anticipation of future commercial entities capable of providing similar services.”

By removing the subsidy, the prices of those services went up significantly. The cost to transport one kilogram of cargo up to the station, known as “upmass,” went from $3,000 to $20,000. The cost to bring that one kilogram back down from the station, “downmass,” went from $6,000 to $40,000. One hour of crew member time, previously $17,500, is now $130,000.

The sudden change in prices, which took effect immediately, took some ISS users by surprise. An executive with one company, who spoke on background because that company is still evaluating the impacts of the pricing change, was not aware of NASA’s decision to raise prices until contacted by SpaceNews.

“NASA has not done a good job communicating with the stakeholders,” said Jeffrey Manber, chief executive of Nanoracks. “We are in discussions with customers and suddenly we are being notified of a major increase.”

That sudden increase in prices, he said, forced Nanoracks to suspend discussions with two potential customers, who he said were “priced out of their budget” by the increase.

Another executive, speaking on background, was not aware of any discussion by NASA about changing the pricing policy ahead of the announcement. The increase, the executive said, could lead some customers to seek alternatives.

NASA didn’t elaborate on its decision to go to what it calls “full value” pricing beyond its statement, and the agency did not respond to questions about the pricing policy. Manber said such a change should have been first discussed by the NASA Advisory Council’s Regulatory and Policy Committee, on which he serves, but that the issue had not come up at its meetings.

Manber said that NASA may be reacting to language in a report accompanying the final fiscal year 2021 appropriations bill, which provided NASA with just $17 million for LEO commercialization efforts, compared to its request of $150 million. The report instructed NASA to provide Congress data on projects selected through its LEO commercialization effort on the station, the total costs incurred by NASA for the delivery and execution of them, and how much NASA will be reimbursed.

The report also…