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Human missions to Mercury and Saturn augmented by in situ resource utilization

A nuclear thermal rocket concept. Credits: NASA/Wired

In a paper presented at the 8th Symposium on Space Resource Utilization (2016), Bryan Palaszewski analyzes multiple mission architectures for human voyages to the inner and outer solar system. The planet Mercury has permanently shadowed craters at its poles which likely contain frozen water enabling ice mining for rocket propellant and oxygen for breathable air to sustain settlements. The outer planets and their moons are reservoirs of significant amounts of useful gases such as hydrogen, helium 3, methane, ethane, and ammonia which can be utilized as in-situ resources. Through nuclear propulsion and living off the land with ISRU, travel times can be reduced and payloads increased for both robotic and human missions. With a positive vision for eventual space settlement, Palaszewski concludes the paper with “These technological innovations will enable Krafft Ehricke’s vision of a polyglobal civilization“.

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Paragon selected by NASA to develop lunar water collection and purification system

Image Credit: NASA’s Goddard Spaceflight Center

Paragon Space Development Corporation, a subcontractor for Dynetics which is one of the three companies NASA has selected to begin work on designs for human lunar landers, was just awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I grant to develop its ISRU Collector of Ice in a Cold Lunar Environment or ICICLE. The system will use a cold trap for collecting and purifying water from ice mining the permanently shadowed regions of the lunar poles. The purification and collection of lunar water is a critical step in generating in-situ propellant, breathable oxygen, and potable water for space settlements and the cislunar economy.

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The logistics of dining off Earth

Artist concept of dining in space. Credits: Disney/Eater

In a recent Twitter thread Kevin Cannon shares his thoughts on the logistics of feeding an expanding population as humans settle other worlds. His “food quality” model compares different food preparation venues in an effort to highlight the challenges of feeding folks in in remote locations such as space settlements (and no, there likely won’t be food trucks in space).

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Rough index of “food quality”. Credits: Kevin Cannon / Twitter

The obvious goal is sustainable, high frequency food replenishment utilizing in situ resource utilization (ISRU). Cannon recently published a paper in which he modeled the calorie needs and land requirements for a martian settlement that reaches a population of one million people becoming self-sufficient within a hundred years. A wealth of research relevant to space settlement can be found at his website kevin.cannon.rocks.

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The approaching emergence of the suborbital space tourism market

SpaceShipTwo Unity Released From VMS Eve for Second Glide Flight in New Mexico. Image © Virgin Galactic 2020

In a paper in New Space, Ken Davidian summarizes his research on the human suborbital spaceflight market and how the data fit within the innovation process ‘‘fireworks’’ model toward eventual industry emergence. He finds that the suborbital tourism market is past the initial emergence stages close to actual commercial operation, which will commence when any company flies a customer in exchange for a purchased fare. To date, Virgin Galactic is the closest to this key milestone. Space tourism may be a key economic driver that will enable eventual space settlement.

Number of reported flight reservations on the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo vehicle. Credits: Ken Davidian / New Space (2020)
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Beyond Earth Institute publishes policy recommendations to accelerate space settlement

Illustration of an early space settlement. Credits: Beyond Earth Institute, Inc.

The newly formed nonprofit just issued their June 2020 BE Report outlining what steps need to be taken by government and industry in the areas of export controls, best practices and multilateral agreements to foster a future where millions of people will be living and working in space, while in compliance with the Outer Space Treaty.

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Thales Alenia selected as key supplier for Axiom commercial space station

Illustration of Axiom Segment attached at Node 2 Forward port of the ISS. Credit: Axiom Space

Just announced in a press release January 24, the joint venture between Thales and Leonardo will design and develop Axiom’s Micrometeoroid & Debris Protection System and Habitation Module. Axiom was granted access by NASA in January to attach its space station modules to the International Space Station’s Node 2 Forward port in the latter half of 2024. The Axiom Segment may eventually replace the ISS upon decommissioning later this decade. We’re one step closer to the first space settlement in low Earth orbit.

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Space settlement through private enterprise

Artist rendition of Starship exploring Saturn. Image credit SpaceX/Flickr

In an interview by Stuart Clark in BBC Science Focus Magazine, Vice President for North American operations for the International Space University Gary Martin answers questions on how private enterprise is changing space exploration. Companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin, through their own initiatives and public/private partnerships are opening up the final frontier, paving the way for space settlement.

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Redwire adds Made in Space to its nascent portfolio

3-stage illustration of a Made in Space Archinaut platform assembling a satellite platform much larger than itself. Image credit: Made in Space

Made in Space, who’s mission is to develop state-of-the-art space manufacturing technology to support exploration, national security, and sustainable space settlement, has been acquired by Redwire, a company just formed earlier this month by AE Industrial Partners (AEI) through the acquisition of Deep Space Systems and Adcole Space. Redwire aims to be a leader in mission critical space solutions and high reliability components for the next generation space architecture. With the acquisition of Made in Space and its Archinaut platform designed to manufacture large structures in space, AEI is well positioned for solving the complex challenges of future space missions needed for space settlement.

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SpaceX will need suppliers for Mars settlement

In a thread on Twitter, Kevin Cannon suggests that suppliers for services that SpaceX will need to settle Mars such as sanitation, medical supplies, entertainment, finance and others, get started sooner rather then later laying out their plans if they want to be selected to help settle a new world.

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Image credit: Kevin Cannon
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Governance of space resources

Artist’s illustration of mining activity on the moon (Image: © James Vaughan)

In an essay in the The Space Review, Kamil Muzyka, a PhD Candidate at the Institute of Law Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences, lays out the space governance framework for profitable and sustainable operations through intergovernmental agreements (IGA). According to Muzyka, any new regulation should address:

  • Safety and security of operations
  • Governance and reciprocal approach to authorization of space activities
  • Dispute resolution
  • A platform for information sharing for commercial, safety, and scientific use
  • A framework for processing, manufacturing, and construction using space objects with the use of obtained resources
  • Liability for damage caused by people and machines
  • The use of synthetic organisms within space objects or on the surface of a celestial body
  • Addressing the issues of extraterritorial intellectual property suits
  • Recommendations for space debris removal, recycling, reuse, and protection of national heritage sites (space objects and their direct vicinity) on the surface, subsurface, atmosphere, or orbit of a celestial body

The Hague International Space Resources Governance Working Group is already working on the Building Blocks of an International Framework on Space Resource activities that will lead to eventual codified space law in this area.