Space Economy

It's been a long time since I wrote anything about the Space Economy. I was, perhaps, overly optimistic about the timing, but lately all the signs are that the private sector now has sufficiently mature payload to space technology to completely change the nature of space research and business.

I'm not holding my breath, but some scientists think the Star Trek "warp drive" could be possible. They make it sound so easy--instead of trying to accelerate a space ship to speeds faster than light, all you have to do is "move a chunk of space time" with the ship inside the space time bubble. Sounds good to me, but I suspect moving a chunk of space-time continuum takes a lot of energy. So next up: find a source of dilithium crystals.

A British company called Reaction Engines has unveiled plans for a new unmanned, reusuable earth to orbit spacecraft. The ship will be able to carry 12 tons of cargo into orbit and then return to earth. The spacecraft uses a new kind of dual use rocket engine that is air-breathing for take off and then switches to liquid oxygen in the upper atmosphere. The company says it will take about ten years to get the design into space.

Duke University researchers have developed a cloaking device that is actually, um, a cloak. They have designed a nanotechnology-based material that has the property of bending electromagnetic radiation, including visible and infrared light. The picture accompanying this article shows someone in a cloak with the background behind them clearly visible.

New Mexico's rise to dominance of the space industry in the U.S. may become the fodder of economic development case studies for decades. The State of New Mexico just announced that it has signed a twenty year lease of facilities at Spaceport America with Virgin Galactic. Virgin Galactic says it intends to locate its world headquarters at the facility, bringing with it jobs and tourism.

As research into the feasibility of a space elevator continues, scientists are discovering it may be quite difficult to make the space elevator work, largely due to the Coriolis effect.

Here is an absolutely spectacular picture of Mercury from a new NASA space probe. It pretty much confirms that Mercury is not a place anyone would want to live, and it is an amazing example of technology in action.

SpaceX, the private rocket company, successfully launched a satellite size hunk of aluminum into orbit, making it the first private rocket to boost an object into earth orbit. Like Bert Rutan's SpaceShipOne (which only made a sub-orbital trip), the SpaceX accomplishment will continue to accelerate private investment in space. Rutan is busy building a fleet of space tourism vehicles for Virgin Galactic.

Japanese scientists are developing plans for a space elevator. A couple of U.S. firms have also been working on the same concept, which does not require new scientific breakthroughs, but is instead requires solving a series of engineering and materials fabrication problems. The biggest one is developing a process to make a 62,000 mile ribbon of carbon nanotubes.

NASA may finally be ready to blast off, literally, with greatly expanded capacity, by going to the private sector for space transportation rather than owning and operating all its own space vehicles.

Faced with the problem of using the literally antique Space Shuttles (more than thirty years old in design) just to get food and supplies to the space station and many years from having a replacement, NASA appears to be finally shifting course.

Virgin Galactic, the space travel start up and spin off of Virgin Airlines, has teamed up with Google to start colonizing Mars. Google is supplying the financial muscle for the venture, and Virgin is contributing the work the firm has already done on their privately funded space vehicle. The two companies are already beginning to solicit team members willing to be part of the first Martian colony.

The European company (EADS) that builds the Ariane rockets used for commercial satellite launches has announced it has already completed the design for a combination jet/rocket plane that will provide tourists a brief ride into space.

Galactic Suites, the space tourism venture, has a Web site with additional information about the space hotel it is building. Space-related businesses are already transforming the New Mexico economy, and states like Virginia and Texas are also beginning to reap benefits. Not every region will find a niche with space-related opportunities, but the success of New Mexico illustrates that boldness and determination pay when it comes to economic development.

A Mach 10 (ten times the speed of sound) test of a scramjet took place in Australia, where a rocket carried the scramjet into near space, then ignited the scramjet to return to earth. Scramjets are special jet engines that work at very high speeds and at high altitudes, and research has continued on them for decades with mixed success.

This short article on emerging deals between Virgin Galatic and Robert Bigelow's space hotel venture show that the Space Economy continues to quietly roll along. Even more interesting is the recent deal between Virgin Galactic and NASA to share development on various space gear like heat shields, space suits, and rocket motors.

New Mexico's long term vision to dominate commercial space activities in the U.S. continues to mature. The New Mexico legislature has approved $30 million to fund further development of Spaceport America, and the venture already has a $27 million lease signed with Virgin Atlantic. Virgin plans to base its U.S. commercial space operations there, with tourist flights starting before the end of this decade.

As I wrote recently, a lot of my readers just think that the whole Space Economy thing is a litte goofy. But Virgin Galactic has rolled out images of its new sub-orbital space ship, and is already booking seats. Two hundred thousand dollars gets you a two and one half hour trip to the edge of space--about 68 miles above the earth. Pasengers will be weightless long enough to get queasy and/or enjoy the view; the ship will have plenty of windows.

When I first began writing about spaceports two years ago, I got a lot of eyerolling in response. Some economic developers really questioned whether this was something to take seriously. But in just two short years, New Mexico is well on the way to turning the entire economy of the state around.

The emerging Space Economy just keeps chugging along quietly, even though there has not been much news breaking into the mainstream media. Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, continues to fund Blue Origin, his space tourism firm. The company is building a reusable launch vehicle (RLV) quite different from Bert Rutan's SpaceShipOne design. The Blue Origin vehicle looks like something from the old 1950s scifi movies.

SpaceX, an American space technology firm, has decided to compete with Russia. Russia has been making a lot of money from the U.S. by hauling payloads and staff back and forth to the space station while NASA sorts out the flying foam problems of the Space Shuttle.