NewSpace

NewSpace, alt.space, and entrepreneurial space are umbrella terms for a movement and philosophy often affiliated with, but not synonymous with, an emergent private spaceflight industry. Specifically, the terms are used to refer to a community of relatively new aerospace companies working to develop low-cost access to space or spaceflight technologies and advocates of low-cost spaceflight technology and policy.

Origin

The term alt.space was first used in the early 1980s to describe companies that were making serious efforts to reach outer space without cooperation with NASA, other governmental agencies, or their contractors.^[1] Near the end of the 1990s, a dramatic increase in companies engaging in this process led to the common usage of the phrase "new space companies";^[2] "NewSpace" and "entrepreneurial space" are now the most commonly used terms,^[3] though "alt.space" is still occasionally found.^[4]

Definition

NewSpace is a term that has had some variation in meaning since "supplanting the geekier 'alt.space' moniker" after about 2006.^[4]

NewSpace is defined by HobbySpace.com as covering "approaches to space development that differ significantly from that taken by NASA and the mainstream aerospace industry".^[5] Definitions of what exactly is and is not NewSpace vary but typically include several of the following criteria:

• Development of launch systems principally with private funding, with only secondary or no involvement with government spaceflight programs and contractors. Private companies that conduct aeronautical efforts, such as Boeing, are generally not considered part of NewSpace due to their heavy reliance on NASA development funding as part of their business model. NewSpace companies need not universally avoid NASA, often participating in projects such as Commercial Orbital Transportation Services, but tend to focus primarily on consumers in the private sector.^{[citation needed]}

• Low cost approaches or budgeting plans. Due to the highly expensive nature of spaceflight and lack of government funding, many NewSpace companies consequently take a low-cost approach to constructing launch vehicles and other necessary components.^[6] NewSpace companies commonly participate in, or are created to participate in, projects such as the Ansari X Prize and the Google Lunar X Prize.

• Primary drive towards innovation. "A NewSpace company might use innovative new technologies that will lead to low cost, robust space systems. Or a company might simply combine currently available, "cheap-off-the-shelf" (COTS) technologies in an innovative manner that provides a new and highly capable system at lower costs."^[6]

• Incremental development that is profitable even at initial low-levels of space system complexity and capability. Many NewSpace development projects follow the "model of other technologies such as computer chips and LCD displays. Start with systems of limited capability but with markets that can provide a profit and thus pay for the development necessary to make the next step up in capability. Over time this can have a tremendous pay off as hardware improvements are compounded and markets expand."^[6]

• Aim to increase human presence in outer space.^[6] Many NewSpace companies, such as Bigelow Aerospace and XCOR Aerospace, have publicly stated goals to send civilian humans into outer space on a mass scale and/or at low end-user costs.

Current usage

The Space Frontier Foundation holds an annual 'NewSpace' conference to discuss NewSpace-related issues and publishes a 'NewSpace News' periodical.^[7]

Mojave, California has been described as "the Silicon Valley of NewSpace".^[8] Mojave is home to Masten Space Systems, Scaled Composites, XCOR Aerospace, and the Mojave Spaceport, the worlds first private space launch facility.

Regulation

Much of the alt.space activity is now involved in government licensing activities and regulation development for proposed spaceflights, managed by the Federal Aviation Administration

Some NewSpace Organizations

The following are companies and organizations generally regarded as both alt.space and successfully active (or previously successfully active).^{[citation needed]}

Active Companies

• Altius Space Machines^[4]
• Astrobotic Technology^[9]
• Armadillo Aerospace
• Bigelow Aerospace^[10]
• Blue Origin
• Celestial Circuits^[4]
• Copenhagen Suborbitals^[11]
• Final Frontier Design^[4]
• Innovative Space Propulsion Systems^[4]
• Masten Space Systems^[4]
• Moon Express^[12]
• OpenLuna Foundation ^{[13][Full citation needed]}
• Orbital Sciences Corporation
• Rocket Racing League^[14]
• Scaled Composites
• Scorpius Space Launch Company^{[citation needed]}
• SpaceDev
• SpaceX^[4]
• T/Space^{[citation needed]}
• UP Aerospace^[15]
• Virgin Galactic^[4]
• XCOR Aerospace^[4]
• Zero Gravity Corporation^{[citation needed]}

Organizations

• Astronauts for Hire
• Commercial Spaceflight Federation
• National Space Society
• Space Access Society
• Space Frontier Foundation^[4]
• Space Tourism Society
• SpaceVidcast
• Students for the Exploration and Development of Space
• Yuri's Night

Events

• Ansari X-Prize
• Google Lunar X Prize
• X Prize Cup competition

Defunct

• Rotary Rocket^[16]
• Rocketplane Kistler^[17]
• PanAero, headed by Len Cormier.
• Pioneer Rocketplane.

See also

• List of private spaceflight companies
• Private spaceflight
• Space Frontier Foundation
• X Prize Foundation

References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ [2]
3. ^ Foust, Jeff (2007-03-05). "Current issues in NewSpace". The Space Review. http://www.thespacereview.com/article/823/1. Retrieved 2009-04-14. 
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k} Foust, Jeff (2011-08-16). "The evolving ecosystem of NewSpace". The Space Review. http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1906/1. Retrieved 2011-08-15. "Since the term came into vogue about five years ago, supplanting the geekier “alt.space” moniker, it’s been most commonly associated with entrepreneurial ventures developing suborbital and orbital vehicles. ... While an exact, widely-accepted definition of NewSpace still eludes the space community, it’s increasingly clear that constraining the scope of NewSpace to vehicle developers is too limiting. ... SpaceX, Virgin Galactic, XCOR Aerospace, ... New companies are emerging that seek to develop technologies that can either enable or be enabled by low-cost access to space and thus can arguably be considered part of NewSpace. [Examples include] Altius Space Machines ... Masten Space Systems ... Innovative Space Propulsion Systems ... Celestial Circuits [and] Final Frontier Design. ... NewSpace ... is a way of doing business and NewSpace is an industry doing business in a new way. ... NewSpace is an industry that’s doing business for a purpose ... a NewSpace company is a company that is built, formed, operated by, funded by, or has as part of its business plan the opening of the space frontier, and making a profit while doing so ... It is the industrial engine that will power the movement towards a more fundamental goal of space settlement." 
5. ^ Lindsey, Clark S.. "NewSpace: The alternative route to space...". Hobby Space. http://www.hobbyspace.com/NewSpace/index.html. Retrieved 2009-10-18. 
6. ^ ^{a b c d} Lindsey, Clark S.. "Defining NewSpace". Hobby Space. http://www.hobbyspace.com/NewSpace/index.html#Define. Retrieved 2009-10-18. 
7. ^ [3]
8. ^ [4]
9. ^ "SpaceX Lands Contract To Fly To Moon". Aviation Week. 2011-02-08. http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=space&id=news/asd/2011/02/08/01.xml&headline=SpaceX%20Lands%20Contract%20To%20Fly%20To%20Moon. Retrieved 2011-02-08. "Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic Technology, a Carnegie Mellon University spin-off company, has signed a launch services contract with Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) for a Falcon 9 rocket to deliver a lander, small rover and up to about 240 lb. of payload to the surface of the Moon" 
10. ^ Inflatable space module puffs up, Jonathan Fildes, BBC News, 14 Jul 2006
11. ^ Copenhagen suborbitals webpage: Mission overview, accessed 2010-01-29.
12. ^ "MoonEx aims to scour moon for rare materials". Los Angeles Times. 2011-04-08. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-moon-venture-20110408,0,1715396.story. Retrieved 2011-08-20. "The company is among several teams hoping to someday win the Google Lunar X Prize competition, a $30-million race to the moon in which a privately-funded team must successfully place a robot on the moon's surface and have it explore at least 1/3 of a mile. It also must transmit high definition video and images back to Earth before 2016. ... should be ready to land on the lunar surface by 2013" 
13. ^ openluna.org
14. ^ Aero-TV: Rocket Racing League -- Diamandis Plans 2010 Exhibition Racing, Aero-News Network, 2010-02-15, retrieved 2010-02-15.
15. ^ "UP AEROSPACE, LOCKHEED MARTIN Launch from Spaceport America" (Press release). Spaceport America. 2009-10-12. http://www.spaceportamerica.com/news/press-releases/264-up-areospace-lockheed-martin-launch-from-spaceport-america.html. Retrieved 2009-10-22. 
16. ^ Weil, Elizabeth (2003). They All Laughed At Christopher Columbus: An Incurable Dreamer Builds the First Civilian Spaceship.. Bantam. ISBN 978-0553382365. 
17. ^ Cooper, Scott. (7 July 2010). "Rocketplane, which received $18 million in Oklahoma tax credits, filed for bankruptcy last month" Oklahoma Gazette. [5]

External links

• Office of the Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation.
• Future Space Markets.