About
Who are we?
The Ohio State University is the lead academic partner in the Starlab and Carver Science Park partnership with five major roles.
OSU was part of the original proposal to NASA’s Commercial low-Earth Orbit Destinations program in which Nanoracks (a Voyager company) was awarded ~$165M to begin development of Starlab.
1. Development of the global research and stakeholder community for Starlab
2. Contribution of key scientific and engineering expertise to Starlab, in areas such as controlled environment agriculture and materials science and engineering
3. Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and new company development from Starlab research and activities
4. Workforce Development, Student Engagement, and Success in Starlab
5. Hosting of the US Ground Location for Starlab and the George Washington Carver Science Park, to be located at the north side of the Ohio State University Airport
Key partners in the Starlab collaboration are Voyager Space Holdings, Airbus GmbH, Northrop Grumman, Hilton Hotels, and The Ohio State University. A short video on Starlab can be found below.
Three legs of the United States Space Enterprise
Why this partnership is so important
Ohio State’s leading university role in the Starlab partnership, and host site of the Starlab US Ground Location brings a new Commercial Space Anchor to the center of Ohio. This anchor in commercial space complements and fortifies the National Security Space anchor at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, home to AFRL, National Space Intelligence Center, and other space-research and development assets, as well as Ohio’s Civil Space Anchor at NASA Glenn Research Center and NASA Armstrong TestFacility.
No other state can claim to steward anchors across all three key dimensions of US Spaceflight activities - National Security, Civil, and Commercial - giving Ohio a first-mover advantage in leveraging these to generate positive social, economic, educational, and quality-of-life outcomes for our citizens, and positioning us as a global leader in the future of spaceflight.
Starlab Space Station
A commercial research laboratory in orbit
Implemented through a unique trans-Atlantic joint-venture between Voyager Space Holdings and Airbus GmbH (Germany), Starlab will be the first privately-owned, commercially-operated space station in low-Earth orbit, replacing the ISS following its retirement in the early 2030’s. Starlab will be a fully-functional space station in one launch - no assembly required - housing a permanent crew of four on missions up to a year or more in duration. OHIO is playing a major role in the development and implementation of Starlab, through the engagement of Zin Technologies in Cleveland (a Voyager portfolio company) and The Ohio State University, leveraging both Columbus and Wooster campus infrastructure and personnel.
Starlab research will span a wide dynamic range, including plant/agricultural research, materials science, human health, earth and climate, biotechnology, in-space assembly and repair, astronomy and astrophysics, and more. Customers will include private-sector companies, space agencies, university faculty and student researchers, and non-profit organizations from around the world.
George Washington Carver Science Park
A science research park to be hosted at KOSU
Complementing the Starlab Space Station on orbit, Ohio State will be the host of the newly-formed George Washington Carver Science Park, a first-of-its-kind university research park dedicated to commercial spaceflight research and economic development. It will house Starlab’s US Ground Location (SGL-US), including substantial payload development, research, operations, communications, and training activities. The US Ground Location for Starlab was awarded through a competitive proposal process run by Voyager, and for which Ohio’s entry was led by JobsOhio.
The permanent SGL-US will be located on ten acres of the Ohio State Aviation and Aerospace Campus at Ohio State’s Don Scott Airport. Voyager Space will lease the land from Ohio State, with an option to lease as much as eighty (80) acres in total. The Ohio State University’s Board of Trustees ratified the terms of the agreement in November 2023, and a temporary facility is in operation today at the College of Food, Agriculture, and Environmental Sciences. This collaborative space contains a low-fidelity Starlab mock-up, early experiment prototypes, hardware development designs, student research projects, and more. OSU leadership on Starlab and GWCSP includes Dr. John M. Horack, Professor and Neil Armstrong Chair in Aerospace Policy, a joint appointment between the College of Engineering and the John Glenn College of Public Affairs, and Dr. Scott Shearer, Chair of the Food, Agricultural, and Biological Engineering Department.