The business potential of 'NewSpace'
Delegates attending the 2013 International Space Commerce Summit, held in London on 29-30 October, heard how public and private bodies are being encouraged to make the most of opportunities arising from so-called 'NewSpace'.
The term 'NewSpace' is said to have been coined by US-based Deep Space Industries to describe the world of commerce opening up for companies bold enough to enter the 21st Century space race.
These opportunities include space tourism and the need for new spaceports worldwide, the markets opening up for new small satellites and their data, and manned space flight.
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- a new space tourism venture (pictured) that could see 44 passengers blast off to travel 268 miles above the earth from 2018- The XCOR Lynx - another space tourism project that will see a pilot and passenger head skywards aboard a liquid-fuelled rocket plane, and
- Astrium's EDRS satellites, which will use optical lasers to pass data from one satellite to another at lightning speeds so getting the information to the ground much faster.
"By 2030, we can expect to see real progress in suborbital space technologies in this country and we need to start thinking about where we can locate spaceports," said Lewis.
He said options for spaceport locations currently being considered include areas around Torquay, East Anglia, Kinloss in Scotland, and Wales.
Delegates also heard about how space risks are insured, how space policy and law is drawn up, how companies can attract investors, and how Government bodies, like the UK's Technology Strategy Board, are helping companies enter the industry.
And for the ultimate trip, they also heard how the Mars One project is looking for would-be astronauts to take a one way ticket to colonise the Red Planet from 2023.
Summit chairman, Deep Space Industries' Rick Tumlinson, best summed up the event: "We are at the beginning of a whole new era of space exploration and industry.
