SAN FRANCISCO — NanoRacks and Astrium North America plan to build the first commercial platform designed to be mounted on the exterior of the international space station to allow customers to test research payloads, sensors and electronic components in space.

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Debra Werner is a correspondent for SpaceNews based in San Francisco. Debra earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of California, Berkeley, and a master’s degree in Journalism from Northwestern University. She is a recipient...