Startups strive to be leaders in the space race

The miniaturization of satellites and the reduction in the cost of launching them have led to the emergence of a new generation of startups seeking to take part in the space race. Companies of the new wave even came up with a special term for themselves - NewSpace .

At a recent San Jose conference , leaders of the NewSpace movement (a term that describes startups that are in the shadow of space industry giants such as Boeing and Lockheed-Martin) discussed the latest approaches to space travel, as well as space discoveries and research.

While many NewSpace startups dream of planetary exploration and industrial development of asteroids, the first launch steps are being taken on Earth. Yes, the first steps, and although NewSpace has been around for about a decade, all startups are still in the early stages of development.



Inauguration of the NewSpace Awards Andy Weir, author of Martian. On the inset: Matt Damon - an astronaut stuck on Mars from a film adaptation

The main speaker of the first day was Dava Newman, NASA's first deputy chief. She is known for her work at MIT: the development of flexible and lightweight next-generation spacesuits. Newman began with a presentation where she called NewSpace startups an important part of the space exploration industry, which is over 50 years old. Birthday is considered the launch day of the first artificial satellite Sputnik-1.

In the United States, space exploration began at the initiative of the government - was created by NASA. This was facilitated by the need to develop modern electronics and the desire of the United States to take part in the space race.

NewSpace is a completely different race - it is the pursuit of the dream of a young generation of engineers, funded by the efforts of private investors.

Although NewSpace companies are developing several different promising markets, one of the largest is the industrial development of asteroids. For example, Texas Deep Space Industries (DSI) is fighting for leadership in this area.

“A small, slightly less than a kilometer wide, asteroid contains more iron and expensive and rare-earth metals than it was removed from the bowels of the earth in the history of mankind. Asteroids located close to our planet contain a quantity of raw materials that can meet the needs of 100 billion people, ”said DSI lead researcher John Lewis

Another important problem that the NewSpace industry is solving is the development of new methods for delivering goods into orbit. For the further development of the industry, it is vital to reduce the cost of delivering a kilogram of cargo into space.

Programs such as ALASA (Airborne Launch Assist Space Access) from DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) solve the problem by abandoning the first step. This alternative launch method was described by Mitchell Burnside Clapp, manager of the tactical department of the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

Launch is carried out from the air using the F-15 fighter (ALASA project) - the DARPA solution allows the use of a single-stage rocket to launch a satellite into orbit. The use of the F-15, with a speed of up to 3,000 km / h, reduces the launch cost by 10%.

In addition, ALASA is working on a returnable launcher for delivering small loads. The time required to put the cargo into orbit will decrease from several years to several months. Clapp and DARPA hope that the demand for the service will reduce the price for both Defense Department cargo and private sector cargo.

Demand is the key to the success of alternative launch systems such as Virgin Galactic's LauncherOne. Here, demand is generated by another Virgin Group project by Richard Branson, OneWeb, whose goal is to provide the world with internet.

William Pomerantz, vice president of special projects at Virgin Galactic, said the WhiteKnightTwo aircraft capable of flying at an altitude of fifteen kilometers was involved in the LauncherOne project.

“Having ten launches in ten days will change the rules of the game,” said Sean Mahoney, CEO of Masten Space Systems. He and his team believe that the benefits of challenging risky trials are worth the effort.



Youth Industry NewSpace

The birth of the NewSpace industry is due to two events that took place in the early 2000s. The first key point was the announcement of the Ansari XPrize prize, which led to the creation of the first non-state aircraft, in which Burt Rutan made its first suborbital flight in 2004. The second event was the creation of SpaceX by Ilon Mask in 2002, when he decided to develop a launch vehicle, without using Russian engines.

There are no billionaires in this industry who have made their fortunes in one night. Elon Musk was “saved” by friends, because to achieve success he needed to make as many as four launches of the Falcon-1 rocket. One of the conference participants said: "Entrepreneurs who have a chance to succeed in the NewSpace industry work for $ 5 per hour."

Conference attendees on stage advised the engineers to think twice before creating another launch vehicle. There are other areas of the NewSpace industry with even greater potential.

The San Francisco area is rich in startups: Planet Labs, NanoRacks, Spire Global (formerly Nanosatisfi), SkyBox Imaging from Google, Elysium Space and many others. All of them are engaged in a wide variety of things: Elysium provides services for the delivery of ashes to low Earth orbit, SpaceVR develops virtual reality platforms, Mountain View, a structural enterprise of Made in Space, Inc., supplies 3D printers suitable for working in difficult conditions, Planet Labs, Spire, and Skybox offer various Cubsat nanosatellites for Earth observations.

Although some of the developments that serve as the engine of the NewSpace industry are based on the latest advanced scientific research, old laws, such as Moore’s law, are not forgotten.

An increase in electronics performance, breakthroughs in programming, and a decrease in the size and power consumption of devices have reduced the weight, power consumption, and dimensions of the aircraft equipment controlling spacecraft. The size of the measuring instruments used, such as thermal imagers and spectrometers, has also decreased.

Silicon Valley venture capital firms have benefited tremendously. It was they who saved SpaceX, thereby paving the way for countless startups.

The participants in the NewSpace industry are mainly young engineers and entrepreneurs. The average age in the space industry is close to 50 years, because the term "gray beards" was heard at the conference very often. Already experienced engineers become mentors or hold leadership positions, setting startups on the right path.

James Muncy, the "gray beard" of NewSpace and a person with experience, represented, so to speak, the past of the industry. His space policy advisory agency, Polispace, shares knowledge with NewSpace's chief engineers and managers. He is also a co-founder of the Space Frontier Foundation.



Although the industry looks promising and has captured the imagination of engineers and investors, the future of NewSpace is still unclear. The dotcom bubble that burst in the 2000s and the economic crisis in 2008 drained resources and led to failures in the space industry in just a few weeks.

The sudden current economic downturn could also plunge existing companies into oblivion. Because industry is heavily dependent on NASA, political unrest can easily change industry prospects.

Now the industry with NASA has a difficult relationship. Constant monitoring was a hindrance, but according to industry participants, the agency is changing course and taking a more active position in the NewSpace movement.

Still, there are programs that support NewSpace, for example, the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research), STTR (Small Business Technology Transfer) and SAA (Space Act Agreement) )

The latest agreement provides NewSpace startups with access to NASA technology, industry sites and agency engineering expertise. CASIS has provided NanoRacks with access to the ISS, as well as a program to launch cubesat from the space station. Announcement: This Thursday (November 26, 2015) from 10:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., the IIDF together with JSC United Rocket and Space Corporation and Roscosmos will hold the conference “Innovations and IT Solutions in the Rocket and Space Industry”.







The purpose and objectives of the conference is to show the plans and needs of the space industry, as well as to enable technology companies to communicate with industry leaders.

You can familiarize yourself with the program and register for the conference here .