Problem:
We (Tony and John) are looking into how to engage non-aerospace companies to get them involved in commercial space development (CSD).
Plan:
As with all the microgroups the plan is to:
1. Identify current proposals/solutions to the problem
2. Find applicable case studies (if any)
3. Propose our own solutions
When this is complete:
4. Identify pros/cons of each
5. Choose the best solution -- either NASA or non-NASA
What we've got so far:
We haven't thought of any current solutions or proposals. Any ideas?
Case Studies:
Oceaneering -- diving company applying technology to make spacesuits
Initial ideas for our own solutions:
-Advertising. Companies pay to have name on launch vehicles, in camera's sight in moon, etc.
-Food Science Companies. Food preservation/preparation on the moon. Resource utilization.
- Water companies look into water extraction on moon. Their filtering process could be used. ex: use a britta water filter, paid for by britta
Update -- 7/7/08
We've decided that the two best options to bring in non-aerospace companies/money is with Biomedical Reserach/Pharmaceuticals and Space Based Solar Power. We've also done a case study on Oceaneering.
Space Based Solar Power is the idea of having solar panels in space beam the energy back to Earth via microwaves. It could also be used to transfer power from one spacecraft to another, from Lunar orbit to the lunar surface, etc. Essentially, the only factor holding back its development is the lack of easy access to LEO (launch costs). Bringing in energy and other companies to develop SBSP and invest money in the industry would act as a major catalyst to increased access to orbit.
In a similar manner, medical research in microgravity would encourage development of space launch capabilities and space stations. Research has and is being done on the shuttle/ISS, but it is severely limited by access to space.
Separate pages will be created for these 2 topics.
Space Based Solar Power (SBSP)
Comments (6)
John Springmann said
at 10:20 pm on Jun 19, 2008
Although we haven't started much research, any initial ideas -- especially any current solutions/proposals -- would be very helpful!
Bradley Cheetham said
at 10:35 pm on Jun 19, 2008
Try to answer the question of how companies can make money from space who are not aerospace companies. Ex. pharmaceutical companies doing zero-g protein growth, nanotech in zero-g and free vacuum, crystal growth in space, how can companies add value to their products via space/space related technologies?
Maxime Rizzo said
at 11:02 pm on Jun 19, 2008
Several ideas we had for the Google X Prize, especially concerning the return to the moon (potential investors) :
- bring funeral ashes to the moon
- "send a message from the moon" campaign
- 3D movies (hollywood), IMAX or whatever
- Videogames (remote control ?)
- Space lotteries (bring your object on the moon, and take a picture of it, or whatever)
- of course, scientific payload
- the idea of Andrea : I am sure that some religious groups would be delighted at the idea of sending things on the moon, in order to preserve them from any terrestrial disaster (database of the humanity, etc).
Tony Mercer said
at 7:55 am on Jun 20, 2008
John and I definitely agree with both of you. But we are also wondering, what is being done now to increase the amount of funding and/or development by non-Aerospace Engineering Companies. There are a lot of ideas about what pharmaceutical, and energy companies (and many more) can do in space. But is there anything happening right now, or any policy engaged, similar to Oceaneering, and their expansion from diving to space.
John Springmann said
at 10:25 pm on Jul 15, 2008
Maxime, I think many of the ideas you listed would fit under how to get the public engaged in space. Yes they would bring in non-aerospace companies, but probably not a significant amount of investment or any real contributions by the companies
William Pomerantz said
at 1:20 pm on Jul 16, 2008
Hi all -- Prizes are a darn good way to get teams from outside a field interested in that field. It worked in the Ansari X PRIZE (aviation companies, software gurus, et cetera), and we're seeing it in the Lunar LAnder Challenge, the Google Lunar X PRIZE 9lots of folks from robotics, open source community, software, et cetera), and with the Archon X PRIZE for Genomics.
I recall that at the announcement event for the Archon X PRIZE for Genomics, a journalist asked Dr. J. Craig Venter (who decoded the first human genome) what was the likelihood that the eventual winner of that prize would be someone who was not doing genomics at the time the prize was launched, and Dr. Venter responded "Approximately 100%." The rest of the panelists (including Francis Collins, who lead the US gov't team that "tied" Dr. Venter's group) all seemed to agree.
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