NASA working with cosmetics company on space station commercialization - SpaceNews

WASHINGTON — NASA is taking the next small step in its efforts to promote commercialization of low Earth orbit by flying a cosmetics company’s product to the International Space Station, a project that has prompted questions from one senator.

“You may be asking why a beauty company is interested in sending our product to the International Space Station,” said Stéphane de la Faverie, group president of The Estée Lauder Companies and global brand president of Estée Lauder, during a Sept.

Estée Lauder will pay NASA approximately $128,000 for transporting the bottles to and from the station and conducting the photography.

The Estée Lauder payload is part of a broader effort by NASA to support commercialization of LEO as it seeks to eventually transition from the ISS to commercial space stations.

“In order for those destinations to be sustainable,” he said of commercial space stations, “they’re going to need customers other than NASA to support their operation.

McAlister said that the proposal from Estée Lauder was reviewed by NASA officials to determine if it met the criteria for being flown on the ISS as part of the LEO commercialization initiative.

“We also think there’s value from a large, well-known company, such as Estée Lauder, being among the first companies taking advantage of our commercial use policy.”