November 21st, 2022 |
By David Bullock, VP of Project Management, Beyond Earth Institute
The inaugural Beyond Earth Symposium opened on the evening of October 12 with an entertaining and insightful fireside chat with Naren Shankar, Producer and Showrunner of The Expanse and For All Mankind television series, and moderated by Courtney Stadd, Beyond Earth VP and Ashley Edwards, NASA Strategic Communications Manager.
Shankar explained how The Expanse recognizes that human tendencies are likely to play out in space in the same way they have throughout history on Earth. He observed, “It’s a very human tendency to create an enemy. It seems to be baked into human nature. But I hope we can get passed those things. In general, we keep trying, and that’s part of the job of civilization…You just hope that people’s better angels, at the end of the day, are going to persevere.”
The formal part of the Symposium was opened by the Beyond Earth Institute (BE) President, Steve Wolfe, on Thursday, October 13. Wolfe began with his story of working on the Space Settlement Act of 1988 and suggested that we have a responsibility, as individuals, to expand life beyond Earth and settle space. “We are a part of a chain for nearly a hundred years that will extend into the distant future,” said Wolfe.
Topics covered by a series of panels and individual speakers focused on a variety of space policy issues relating to expanding human presence in space. Space stations, the science and technology in the executive branch of government and Article VI of the Outer Space Treaty were some of the topics explored. Regulation and legislation were brought up. It was found to be important not only to support commercial investment in the industry beyond Earth, but also support academia and its efforts in that area.
Simon ‘Pete’ Worden (Brig. Gen., USAF, Ret.), BE Advisor and Chairman of the Breakthrough Prizer, introduced the first speaker, Kathy Lueders, Associate Administrator for Space Operations Mission Directorate at NASA. She talked about the legislation which established the Commercial Space Industry. She shared her views on the potential of the international space stations, the hazards of human space flight, and other aspects that need to be considered for the commercial space industry from an organization that was built solely for government.
“A lot of our space infrastructure was set up for the government,” said Lueders in her keynote address, “and what’s really critical now is we have to figure out how are we going to be able to use and evolve the infrastructure to be able to also support commercial space.”
After Leuders spoke, she along with moderator, Michelle Hanlon of the University of Mississippi began the first panel of the day with Senior Director of Emerging Space Markets for Blue Origin, Erika Wagner, Chief Government and External Relations Officer of Axiom Space, Dr. Mary Lynne Dittmar, Executive Vice President for Civil Space and External Affairs of Redwire Space, Mike Gold, and Executive Vice President Government Affairs and Public Policy at Voyager Space, Eric Stallmer. That panel was named the Policy Challenges of Commercial Space Stations — The First Rung Toward Space Habitation.
Stallmer, Dittmar, and Wagner all introduced their employer’s space station programs and each of their backgrounds and developments at this point. Wagner echoed Lueders from her solo talk earlier, stating that “space stations need to be more efficient than the ISS.” She said, “The pivot point is for NASA to go from agency to agency to agency to company in its dealings.” Gold observed that, “we are in the second golden age of space exploration.”Yet, Leuders recognized that, ” we have to more learning.” She believes we need to take our leadership in the US and move it forward.
Keynote speaker Ezinne Uzo-Okoro, Assistant Director for Space Policy, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy explained the role of her office making sure the President and other related parties are updated on science and technology issues and policy. She emphasized how important it was for the White House to focus on the space sector and expressed interest in anything beyond Earth.
“We hope to empower all entities within the US, both government and private, to really develop these multipurpose technologies to enable a bigger space economy on Earth and in space,” said Uzo-Okoro.
The panel on Achieving Safety and Reliability in Human Space Flight, featured moderator Josef Koller, Space Policy Strategist, The Aerospace Corporation, George Nield, New Shepard astronaut and President of Commercial Space Technologies, LLC, Jennifer Forgarty, PhD, Chief Scientific, Officer Transitional Research Institute of Space Health, Baylor College of Medicine, Olivia Gamaez Holzhaus, Founder and CEO of Rhodium Scientific, Scot Bryson, Founder and CEO of Orbital Farm, and Hank Rogers, Founder International MoonBase Alliance. All speakers were interested in the regulatory needs of the space sector, including focusing on how programs are administered, the importance of safety as a consider in space programs and the issue of transparency in such a knowledge based industry.
The next speaker was Johann-Dietrich Wörner, President of the German Academy of the Engineering Sciences. He talked of the concept of a Moon Village and what that entailed, and how it came about.
“Towards a Cislunar Ecosystem with Human Presence” was the topic of the next panel moderated by Laura Forczyk, VP of Research and Analytics at Beyond Earth Institute. With Forczyk was Paul Stimers, Partner at K&L Gates, Dr. Vishnu Reddy, Director, University of Arizona’s Space Safety, Security and Sustainability Center, John Mankins, Moon Village Association, and Angeliki Kapoglou, Researcher, European Space Agency. The group talked about sustainability in space, especially cislunar space, from a variety of perspectives.
When asked about what types of sustainability is important for lunar development, Stimers said, “Sustainability across administrations and the ability to create constancy of purpose…. The second aspect is funding sustainability… We have to have not only the kind of program management and sustainability of vision that allows for that continuous funding and not let that funding wedge take over the entire agency…. The sustainability of our physical presence on the Moon over time, and that brings back the resources and sustains our own existence there over time, not just going there and coming back.”
Scott Pace, Professor of the Practice of International Affairs at George Washington University, was the next speaker and talked about how we interact with people is reflected in space. He feels focus should be on our values and do they work for people, such as human rights.
The next speaker was Bhavaya Lal, Associate Administrator for Technology, Policy and Strategy. She was concerned about the political resilience from administration to administration at NASA and suggested that we will be more resilient if we focus on the “why?” behind the reasons we chose to go to deep space. She admitted, “For me personally, and I am not speaking for NASA, I think that humanity is too precious to keep in one little basket. I want us to spread throughout the solar system. I want us to spread beyond the solar system.”
A recorded message from Tory Bruno, CEO of United Launch Alliance, was presented. He brought up the limitlessness of space resources and the importance of one particular resource, which is spacecraft propellant. He articulated the details of his Strategic Propellant Reserve proposal. He argued the reserve could be “modeled after the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, an investment the government made back in the 70’s and 80’s and, in fact, is self-sustaining to this very day. And that model would work perfectly for our future in Cislunar space.”
The last panel was moderated by Michael Castle-Miller, CEO of Politas Consulting. He talked with Hoyt Davidson, Founder and Managing Partner of Near Earth, LLC, Carissa Christensen, Founder and CEO of BryceTech, Nathan Whigham, President of EN Capital and Robert Brumley, CEO of Laser Light Communications. The group talked about financial models that would be used to fund missions beyond Earth. Christensen acutely observed, “We are talking about some of the most ambitious and audacious technological advancement you can imagine, and the conversation about what it’s going to take to make that happen comes down to three things: One, are there any customers; two, can we derisk the process; and three, can we draw on precedent.”
Complete information on the Symposium can be found on the Beyond Earth website on this page. The page includes video recordings of all the session, related papers and resource materials. The site is password protected. If you need the password, please contact me at david@beyondearth.org.
