American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics 1 Effective Utilization of Resources and Infrastructure for a Spaceport Network Architecture

Mueller, Robert P.; Gill, Tracy; Larson, Wiley J.; Brink, Jefferey

doi:10.2514/6.2012-5233

Cited by 2 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…The water ice would then be used to produce rocket fuel. Such proposals are not uncommon as part of plans for intra-solar system development (Mueller et al 2012; Musk 2017). Mars becomes not just a colony, but a way station.…”

Section: Mars and Existential Riskmentioning

confidence: 99%

Space Colonization and Existential Risk

Gottlieb

2019

J. of the Am. Philos. Assoc.

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Ian Stoner has recently argued that we ought not to colonize Mars because (1) doing so would flout our pro tanto obligation not to violate the principle of scientific conservation, and (2) there is no countervailing considerations that render our violation of the principle permissible. While I remain agnostic on (1), my primary goal in this article is to challenge (2): there are countervailing considerations that render our violation of the principle permissible. As such, Stoner has failed to establish that we ought not to colonize Mars. I close with some thoughts on what it would take to show that we do have an obligation to colonize Mars and related issues concerning the relationship between the way we discount our preferences over time and projects with long time horizons, like space colonization.

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Section: Mars and Existential Riskmentioning

confidence: 99%

Space Colonization and Existential Risk

Gottlieb

2019

J. of the Am. Philos. Assoc.

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“…These technologies are a subset of what is needed for space industry, so developing them is also helpful for space development. • The space agencies should eventually establish a propellant depot in space and give contracts to the space mining companies to extract water from asteroids and the Moon to make rocket propellant [147][148][149][150][151]. The propellant makes government space missions less expensive.…”

Section: Practical Demonstration Requiredmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many space settlement advocates believe that mining water for propellant is the crucial element in a strategy to start space industry [147][148][149][150][151][173][174][175][176]. Therefore, it is of paramount importance in Stage 1 to ensure water mining becomes profitable.…”

Section: Building a Cis-lunar Water Economymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A depot will be needed to receive water from mining companies and distribute it to customers such as national space agencies and commercial space tug operators boosting communication satellites. The depot must include a water electrolysis capability, cryocooling and storage, adequate power generation and radiators for these capabilities, plus the usual spacecraft systems [147,177,178], so its cost will be significant. Capital recovery for the depot will be a significant contributor to the cost of propellant made in space.…”

Section: Building a Cis-lunar Water Economymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These contracts give the mining companies cash flow, develop infrastructure in space that contributes to space industry, perfect the mining techniques, and prepare the mining companies for nongovernment customers. • Space mining companies will begin selling propellant to space tug operators (or operating tugs themselves) to boost telecommunication satellites from Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) or even from Low Earth Orbit (LEO) into Geostationary orbit (GEO) [147][148][149]151]. This will be a profitable revenue stream enabling space development companies to make further progress.…”

Section: Practical Demonstration Requiredmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Space development and space science together, an historic opportunity

Metzger

2016

Space Policy

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The national space programs have an historic opportunity to help solve the global-scale economic and environmental problems of Earth while becoming more effective at science through the use of space resources. Space programs will be more cost-effective when they work to establish a supply chain in space, mining and manufacturing then replicating the assets of the supply chain so it grows to larger capacity. This has become achievable because of advances in robotics and artificial intelligence. It is roughly estimated that developing a lunar outpost that relies upon and also develops the supply chain will cost about 1/3 or less of the existing annual budgets of the national space programs. It will require a sustained commitment of several decades to complete, during which time science and exploration become increasingly effective. At the end, this space industry will capable of addressing global-scale challenges including limited resources, clean energy, economic development, and preservation of the environment. Other potential solutions, including nuclear fusion and terrestrial renewable energy sources, do not address the root problem of our limited globe and there are real questions whether they will be inadequate or too late. While industry in space likewise cannot provide perfect assurance, it is uniquely able to solve the root problem, and it gives us an important chance that we should grasp. What makes this such an historic opportunity is that the space-based solution is obtainable as a side-benefit of doing space science and exploration within their existing budgets. Thinking pragmatically, it may take some time for policymakers to agree that setting up a complete supply chain is an achievable goal, so this paper describes a strategy of incremental progress. The most crucial part of this strategy is establishing a water economy by mining on the Moon and asteroids to manufacture rocket propellant. Technologies that support a water economy will play an important role leading toward space development.Please cite this article in press as: P.T. Metzger, Space development and space science together, an historic opportunity, Space Policy (2016), http://dx.

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American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics 1 Effective Utilization of Resources and Infrastructure for a Spaceport Network Architecture

Cited by 2 publications

References 4 publications

Space Colonization and Existential Risk

Space Colonization and Existential Risk

Space development and space science together, an historic opportunity

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