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Part 2 of 2 Parts (Please read Part 1 first)
     Nanoracks is just in the first stages of research and planning on how to repurpose space junk. It is considering the use of robots that “look like a hand or a snake” carried in the MLS rocket to cut up fuel tanks and weld them into new configurations. Manber said, “You can have robots spring to life and they can put up walls or they can take satellites and deploy them or they can operate labs.” Nanoracks has also partnered with a Canadian robotics company named MDA Robotics and Automation.
    MDA is a Canadian company and is a subsidiary of MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd.  It specializes in the manufacture of robotic arms and equipment for space applications. It made the Canadarm for the Space Shuttle orbiters and the Canadarm-2 on the International Space Station.
     Nanoracks believes that it will be cheaper and safer to build their outposts in space as opposed to building them on the ground and launching them into space. Manber said, “A launch is a dangerous and risky thing technically.… I have a launch tomorrow morning. I'm nervous and I don't know how many launches I've been to.”
      Manber has said that currently the upper stages of the Cyclone 4M could not be used for any purpose that would require housing human beings because of the fuel that will be carried in the tank. Yuzhnoye, the company that makes the Cyclone 4M rockets has been working on the creation of “green” fuels that would leave the recycled tanks safe for human habitation.
      The current Cyclone 4M upper stages could still be used for purposes that don’t include human use. One possible use would be a fuel depot to support a Mars mission.
     Right now, upper stages of rockets either burn up during reentry into the Earth’s atmosphere or are sent into what are called “junkyard orbits.” They add to the estimated thirty-four thousand pieces of space junk that are the size of baseballs or bigger. Stephen Matier is the President and CEO of MLS. He believes that recycling space junk materials in orbit is a good idea. He said, “We've got this stuff up there anyway, so why not take it and reuse it and repurpose it for something that has a second benefit, a second bite at the apple, if you will, that does more science.”
    If it proves feasible to recycle space junk, MLS and Nanoracks could reap substantial financial rewards. There would be other companies eager to employ their technology. Matier said, “Having a station that somebody can go to and drop off material or collect material as they're pursuing their mission, you know, that's the way it's going to benefit everybody.”
     Manber said that Nanoracks chose MLS for collaboration because the company has “seasoned industry veterans.” The use of the Ukrainian rockets by MLS was also a reason for the choice. The use of a northern latitude launch site would also provide Nanoracks with easy access to different orbits.
     MLS received environmental approval from Nova Scotia in June of this year. Matier said that MLS intends to launch its first Cyclone-4M rocket from the new Canso launch facility at the end of 2021 or the first part of 2022.