Isle of Man based Odyssey Moon Ltd and Israeli based NSL Satellites Ltd, in partnership with NanoRacks LLC of the US, have announced that they will fly three different educational microgravity experiments to the International Space Station (ISS).  The launch will take place on Sunday October 7th on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral. 
 
One experiment, which is being undertaken by Israeli students, will look at how cancer cells develop in microgravity and another will determine the direction of the sprouts/roots growth of radish seeds under microgravity.  A third experiment will examine the hardening of an epoxy resin sample to test the characteristics of the mix in microgravity conditions.
 
Rick Sanford, CEO of Odyssey Moon said:  ‘We at Odyssey Moon are so excited about this opportunity to give students around the globe access to the NASA U.S national lab. For a start-up space technology company it is very impressive that we have lined up some three successful commercial space missions in a three year period.’
 
Odyssey Moon Chairman, Ramin Khadem also commented:  ‘As well as the technical expertise that NSL brings to commercial space, allowing these terrific experiments to take place, it is such a pleasure to collaborate with them and NanoRacks LLC.’
 
Tim Craine, Director of Business Development, Department of Economic Development, who is a trustee of the International Institute of Space Commerce (IISC) said:  ‘It is fantastic that Odyssey Moon Ltd, an Isle of Man based company, is involved in these important educational experiments and it is indeed another great example of how the Isle of Man is expanding its efforts to become a central location for the new space economy.’
 
Alex Downie OBE, MLC, Member of the Department of Economic Development with responsibility for Space, who is also a trustee of the IISC said:  ‘The Department of Economic Development will continue to support Odyssey Moon as it continues to play a prominent role in space.  I would like to express my thanks to everyone concerned for all their good work which continues to benefit not only our own economy but also that of the UK.’