Houston, we have a podcast.

Welcome to the official podcast of the NASA Johnson Space Center,

episode 193, expanding the market in low-Earth orbit.

I'm Pat Ryan.

On this podcast, we talk with scientists, engineers,

astronauts, all kinds of experts about their part in America's Space

Exploration Program. Today we're going to take you inside another important aspect of the mission of the International Space Station.

From before the first element of the station was launched in 1998 through the arrival of Expedition 1 to begin a continuous human habitation of

space that's now in its 21st year, one of the International Space Station Program's

primary goals has been to promote the commercialization

of space by creating a science laboratory in orbit and by being a reliable destination

for years and years, and yes, by providing seed money for private development,

the station has provided a goal that private companies could drive toward,

whether in making use of the facility for scientific research

or in delivering payloads or in creating their own products, heck creating their own companies

to help move private enterprise off of planet Earth.

And it's worked.

This is the fourth in a series of NASA sponsored panel discussions in recognition of the 20th

anniversary of continuous human presence on the station.

We brought you the first ones in February, March, and early April.

This time, representatives of NASA and several private companies, discuss how the station has helped

create a new era in space exploration.

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