Boeing and NanoRacks LLC are partnering to develop a privately funded commercial airlock, enabling the United States to potentially triple the number of small satellites it can deploy from the International Space Station (ISS) during a single airlock cycle.

The NanoRacks Airlock Module, which is planned to be attached to the ISS U.S. segment in 2019, will increase the capability of transferring equipment, payloads and deployable satellites from inside the ISS to outside, significantly increasing the utilization of ISS.

ISS prime contractor Boeing will build and install the airlock's Passive Common Berthing Mechanism, the hardware used to connect the pressurized modules of the ISS.

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