Ohio State University will soon be home to a ground-based copy of a space laboratory planned for a new commercial space station. The Ohio-based lab will be a replica of the George Washington Carver Science Park, a key science component of the “Starlab” next-generation space station.

The replica laboratory, or “analog,” will allow researchers to test experiments on the ground while identical experiments are conducted aboard Starlab in Earth orbit. The Carver Science Park, established by space tech leaders Voyager Space and Nanoracks, will be a core element of Starlab, the companies’ planned future commercial space station.

The project is now underway with a facility at OSU’s College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, and this year, the partners will break ground on a stand-alone facility on the Ohio State Air Transportation & Aerospace Campus.

This CMC forum takes an in-depth look at how this new facility landed in Ohio and what it promises for the state and for researchers.

The panelists are:

Dr. John M. Horack, The Neil Armstrong Chair in Aerospace Policy, The Ohio State University

Jeffrey Manber, President of International and Space Stations, Voyager Space Holdings; Founder, Nanoracks

Dr. Scott Shearer, Professor and Chair, The Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering, The Ohio State University

The host is Dr. Frederic Bertley, President & CEO, COSI

This forum was sponsored by Kroger and AECOM. It was supported by the Grange Insurance Audubon Center. The forum livestream was supported by The Center for Human Kindness at The Columbus Foundation and The Columbus Dispatch.

This forum was recorded before a live audience on February 15, 2023.