Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. has partnered with Nanoracks, LLC, a Voyager Space company, to send state-of-the-art immersive camera equipment to the International Space Station aboard Northrop Grumman’s 18th Commercial Resupply Services mission (NG-18), which took off from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia earlier this week.
Capture and technology teams from the Company’s MSG Sphere Studios will collaborate with Nanoracks and the ISS National Lab (sponsoring organization), to work with astronauts on the space station across three missions to validate custom camera technology being developed for the state-of-the-art MSG Sphere venues.
On this mission, MSG Sphere Studios sent the highest-resolution camera system ever launched to the ISS to establish critical baseline knowledge in microgravity conditions and the harsh environment of space.
The camera will be operated inside the ISS for approximately 60 days, and data and imagery gathered will help shape plans for a new, ultra-high resolution camera system being developed for MSG Sphere. Two upcoming missions will further test camera capabilities in space, including power systems, data transfer structures, and space-hardening of this cutting-edge system. This unique technology will benchmark imagery at a captured level of detail never before possible, MSG said.
“Our vision with MSG Sphere is to create immersive experiences that transport audiences to new places, and there are few landscapes more awe-inspiring than space," said Andrew Shulkind, MSG Sphere Studios’ Senior Vice President of Capture and Innovation, who serves as the program’s project lead and Principal Investigator. “The insights and imagery we gain from this first mission will be invaluable to prepare our groundbreaking camera technology for working in space, and push our collective understanding of Earth and deep space. We are thrilled to be collaborating with Nanoracks, the ISS National Lab and NASA on this project, which we believe will not only benefit the extraordinary vision of MSG Sphere, but also set a new bar for ultra-high-fidelity imaging.”
The ISS National Lab is working with NASA to maximize utilization of the orbiting laboratory to bring value to humanity through space-based research and technology demonstrations. Nanoracks, a leading global provider of commercial access to space, installed and manages the first commercial airlock on the ISS and is designing a commercial space station to succeed the ISS after it is decommissioned. Nanoracks is certifying the camera for in-space use, integrating the camera for launch and will facilitate operations on the ISS to test MSG Sphere’s capture technology.
Scott Rodriguez, Nanoracks’ Vice President of Government Programs, said: “MSG Sphere is one of Nanoracks’ most exciting customers. Commercial access to the ISS continues to open doors for newcomers to the Space industry, leading to incredible technology development, and paving the way for long-term commercial space utilization from science activities to media and entertainment. Nanoracks is proud to be the partner of choice for filming and media projects on the space station, and to help support the success of MSG Sphere’s camera technology in space.
MSG Sphere is a new entertainment medium that will deliver immersive experiences at an unparalleled scale, which requires developing custom content creation tools, including camera and lens technology capable of producing ultra-high-resolution images.
The company’s first MSG Sphere is under construction in Las Vegas and is expected to open in the second half of 2023. Once complete, it will be the largest spherical structure in the world with an exterior exosphere that features a fully-programmable 580,000 square foot LED display, the largest LED screen on Earth. Inside, the venue will house the world’s highest resolution LED screen—a 160,000 square foot display plane that will wrap up, over, and behind the audience at a resolution over 80 times that of a high-definition television. With approximately 17,500 seats and a scalable capacity up to 20,000 guests, MSG Sphere at The Venetian will become the venue of choice for a wide variety of content, including original attractions, concert residencies, product launches and marquee sporting events.
To meet the unique demands of producing immersive visuals at this scale, which requires an extraordinary level of detail and sharpness, MSG Sphere has assembled a team of innovative leaders to develop its own custom production tools with capabilities far exceeding existing systems, the company said. The camera research proposal was submitted to CASIS by MSG Ventures, which is tasked with developing the cutting-edge technologies to support content creation for MSG Sphere.
