DreamUp is proud to announce that Chairman Jeffrey Manber has been awarded with the Pioneer in NewSpace Award from the Space Frontier Foundation (SFF).
The Pioneer in NewSpace Award is given to an individual who was an early leader and pioneer in the creation of the NewSpace industry, and who has left a lasting legacy – either through their own personal investment or in the creation of an early NewSpace business enterprise.
“Throughout his career, Jeffrey Manber has been a tireless advocate for what we now call NewSpace,“ says SFF Chairman of the Board, Jeff Fiege. “He worked to overcome the obstacles to enable the human development of space before most of today’s NewSpace companies even existed. It is truly an honor to officially add him to the list of NewSpace Pioneers.”
Jeff received this award for his history both establishing and working in the development of NewSpace and commercial space – from his time at the Department of Commerce Office of Space Commercialization, to being CEO of MirCorp, now to leading one of the top companies for space station utilization and the first to bring space into classrooms and classrooms into space.
“It is pretty cool to have my career in commercial space honored at the NewSpace 2017 conference by the Space Frontier Foundation,” says Jeffrey Manber. “Whether at DreamUp, NanoRacks or before, I’ve tried to make space just another place to do business. And slowly, slowly, we are getting there, thanks to organizations like the Space Frontier Foundation.” Adds Manber, “At DreamUp, we are dedicated to providing access to space-based learning for anyone with a passion for exploration.”
Jeff has a long-standing career in commercial space utilization. He served as the Advisor to the Chairman of PanAmSat, the first privately owned international satellite venture, ending the monopoly on international satellite communications. He co-developed the first Wall Street Fund dedicated solely to commercial space and helped create the Office of Space Commerce at the U.S. Department of Commerce in the Reagan Administration. He then served at CEO of MirCorp, and remains the only person to-date to have marketed a private space station. Under MirCorp, Jeff signed media and entertainment deals with space tourist Dennis Tito, Survivor television producer Mark Burnett, and moved producer James Cameron.
Today, in addition to serving as Chair of DreamUp and developing innovative approaches to space-based learning, Jeff is also CEO of NanoRacks, one of leaders in commercial utilization of the International Space Station. NanoRacks has delivered over 550 payloads to the International Space Station, including the launch and deployment of over 180 small satellites and over 350 educational payloads with DreamUp. NanoRacks is currently building the first-ever commercial Airlock to be mounted to the ISS and has also been awarded funding from the NASA NextSTEP Phase II Award to study the reuse of the upper stages of launch vehicles as commercial habitats.
Download the press release PDF here.
For media inquiries, please contact Carie Lemack at carie@dreamup.org.
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About DreamUp
DreamUp is a public benefits corporation that provides space-based educational and media services to students, learners and entrepreneurs. Our mission is to realize an educational community where space-based research and space-based projects will be available to all learners, from primary to post-doctorate, to the International Space Station, and beyond.
The first company bringing space into the classroom and the classroom into space, DreamUp is uniquely positioned to engage kids globally with the most cutting-edge space research and developments, and inspire them through scientific discoveries in orbital and suborbital space. DreamUp has a proven track record, having brought over 350 student research payloads worldwide to the International Space Station (ISS) through our partnership with NanoRacks and its Space Act Agreement with NASA. DreamUp is currently partnered with DLR, the German space agency, to run Überflieger, a nationwide competition for German university students whose winners are scheduled to send experiments to the ISS in 2018.
