BLAST-OFF: THE NEW ERA OF PRIVATE SPACE EXPLORATION
The future of space exploration has never been so exciting. As NASA partners with Spacex and its Crew Dragon to land two of its astronauts at the International Space Station - the first successful launch in more than nine years from US soil - many are asking what’ll come next, and how we can utilize the skills of private space firms to venture further and make history.
MAKING HISTORY
On Saturday, May 30 at 15:22, two American astronauts lifted off from NASA’S iconic Flordiaian launchpad, once graced by Apollo, and made their way to the International Space Station on May 31, a journey that would take them more than 400 kilometers from Earth. The trip itself wasn’t particularly groundbreaking, it had been taken hundreds of times before by astronauts around the world, but quickly attracted the attention of aerospace enthusiasts, partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic forcing us into lockdown, but also because it marked the first time astronauts used a spaceship built and launched by a private firm, in this case,
Elon Musk’s Spacex and its Crew Dragon; the beginning of a new era for space travel.
Built by Spacex, the Crew Dragon was first unveiled in May 2014, a seven-seat concept vessel that, prior to being used by NASA, was prototyped as the Dragon 1, launching 20 times to deliver cargo to the International
Space Station from 2012-2020. Alongside the Falcon 9 rocket, also built by Spacex, Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley set off on their voyage, signaling a new direction for NASA. Previously, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration had a fleet of five spaceships
under a Space Shuttle program, used to make a total of 135 combined journeys into space and the International Space Station. Two accidents - in 1986 and 2003 - resulted in the death of seven astronauts each. As a result of the second failed mission in 2003 - which claimed the lives of
Rick Husband, commander; Michael Anderson, payload commander; David Brown, mission specialist; Kalpana Chawla, mission specialist; Laurel Clark, mission specialist; William Mccool, pilot; and Ilan Ramon, payload specialist - the US government announced it would wind down the Shuttle program.
It took another eight years for the remaining three spaceships - the Endeavour, Atlantis, and Discovery - to be formally retired, and the decision was made for NASA to stop building and operating the ships due to financial constraints and “wasting” scientific resources. Essential supplies could instead be fulfilled by space vehicles operated by private companies, and NASA could hitch rides from Russian space ships to travel to the Space Station. It was later revealed that NASA paid tens of millions for every trip it took, and as early as March of 2020, the organization confirmed it would pay
$90m for a seat on the Russian Soyuz crew launch. Despite seemingly astronomical costs, outsourcing travel makes sense for NASA, but the organization naturally wants to operate from home soil and eliminate its dependence on foreign space missions.
The latest Spacex mission is the result of more than ten years of efforts to find a private player who can build and operate a commercial “space transport network”, allowing NASA to focus on its deep space exploration and move towards
taking humans to the moon, Mars, and perhaps even other asteroids in the decades ahead. Whether the partnership will be an exclusive affair in the years ahead remain to be seen, but it’s clear that NASA is back in action and ready to reclaim its place on the world stage once more - with Spacex by its side.
PARTNERING WITH PRIVATE COMPANIES
NASA’S plan to work with Spacex is not entirely unusual; indeed, around the world, space agencies are increasingly leaning on private companies who can fund innovation without the worry of government cuts and public backlash. Alongside the biggest players - Boeing and Spacex - there are dozens of other entities building launch services, such as Virgin Galatic, which has already made successful trips into space and wants to offer passenger rides. In fact, the firm wants to start 90-minute space flights on its Spaceshiptwo program from as
soon as this year, costing around $250,000 per person. Passengers will get to experience several minutes of weightlessness and see the earth and their home country from space, and a reported 600 people from 60 countries have already paid $100,000 deposit each, including Jens Kyllönen, a 23-year-old Finnish poker player, and John Creswick, a Canadian and CEO of a mobile software company.
What’s particularly interesting about the Spacex and NASA pair-up is that it will make space research and exploration more collaborative than ever before, opening up opportunities to both new and existing businesses who perhaps would not have invested in technology and innovation beforehand. Agencies are no longer just sharing their data and resources, but they are getting together to perform joint missions and explorations. Indeed, the International Space Station is the biggest sign of this collaboration - the facility is set to retire in 2025, and though some have suggested private stations could replace it, there’s already talk of at least ten countries coming together - alongside private players - to fund an ISS successor.
The collaboration also makes way for space agencies to redirect their energies towards deep space exploration and scientific research. It has been more than 50 years since the Moon landing, and though talk of taking humans to Mars continues to escalate, many want to get back to the Moon as the first step in that direction. With many government-backed space agencies starved of funding, private players can inject investments and provide the technological innovation and strategic planning required to benefit private and public bodies.
THE FUTURE OF SPACE EXPLORATION
Though not the first space exploration organization to express interest in Mars, Elon Musk’s Spacex has been the most vocal in its ambitions. The firm is on a “road to making humanity multi-planetary,” because, at an average distance of 140 million miles away,
Mars is one of Earth’s closest neighbors, offering decent sunlight as it’s close to the Sun and has an atmosphere primarily of CO2 with nitrogen and argon, meaning plants can be grown by compressing the atmosphere. What’s more, gravity on the planet is around 38% of that of Earth, meaning heavy things could be lifted easily, with a day length of 24 hrs 37 min - similar to Earth’s - and a 4,220-mile diameter - smaller than Earth’s 7917.5-mile diameter, making it easier to manage whilst offering vast space. It would take six months to get to Mars, and Spacex’s Starship will “be the world’s most powerful launch vehicle ever developed, with the ability to carry in excess of 100 metric tonnes to Earth orbit.”. Orbital-flight is targeted for this year and combined with a Super Heavy rocket, Spacex can create reusable transport that is capable of on-orbit refilling and uses
Mars’ natural H2O and CO2 resources to refuel on the surface of Mars. According to Spacex’s vehicle landing simulation, the Starship would enter Mars’ atmosphere at 7.5 kilometers per second and decelerate aerodynamically, with the vehicle’s heat shield withstanding multiple entries, reducing the impact on the environment and allowing for repeat visits from the same reusable spacecraft.
Back to tourism, and Spacex already has an agreement in place with Space Adventures, who previously worked with Russia’s Roscosmos in sending private astronauts into space.
Elon Musk has suggested that he hopes to carry space tourists as early as next year, whilst Amazon’s Blue Origin launched its 12th New Shepard rocket for test flights and hopes to capitalize on the space tourism sector, selling
commercial flights as soon as 2021 or 2022. CEO Jeff Bezos revealed that he was funding his passion project by selling Amazon stock. What’s important to note is that it will take some time before a trip to space will be affordable or ‘normal’ for the average person. However, despite significant upfront costs for innovation and development, the ‘space race’ is now kicking off amongst multi-billion dollar brands, and each of them is rushing to get to space to claim their technological dominance, meaning that space exploration will become more consumerdriven; in time, that will lead to lower prices.