Nebex CEO: NASA wants a commercial space economy

First, the agency can streamline the supplier vetting process to incorporate suppliers from allied and partner nations from the get-go, cutting hardware and service costs immediately. Second, NASA should place a premium on binding, reciprocal commitments from those partners to use the stations once on orbit.

More than just vendors, these companies and their governments are the very ecosystem partners—and commercial and sovereign tenants—that future stations will rely upon for revenue.