New Space

Spaceflight is expected to boom in the next several decades. This will likely include an increase in deep space exploration and long-duration missions. It is well established that spaceflight has potentially hazardous effects on human health. One of the concerning conditions experienced by astronauts on long duration space missions is spaceflight associated neuro-ocular syndrome (SANS), which includes symptoms such as swelling around the optic disk, changes in ocular anatomy, and visual refractory errors. Multiple theories have been proposed to explain the pathophysiology of this syndrome. However, there are unique challenges faced with studying this syndrome and a clear etiology is not currently known. As more individuals venture into space for longer periods of time, it is important to assess the value new technologies could add to learning more about syndromes such as SANS and improving human health in space overall. New complex human in vitro models and other technological devices may allow researchers to investigate these issues and give greater insight into the pathophysiology of SANS, potentially leading to improved countermeasures and therapeutics.

This article investigates how the implementation of a national space strategy in partnership with supranational organizations affects the development of service ecosystems of Earth Observation (EO) applications. The subject is studied through the lens of a service-dominant logic perspective, a meta-theory that seeks to explain how economic value is cocreated in business-to-business markets. Qualitative empirical research was conducted in three emerging space countries—Slovakia, Latvia, and Estonia—to understand how value-creating resource integration processes involving space downstream companies and their potential end-users are affected by adding the European Space Agency (ESA) to the ecosystem. The study's findings showed that the catalytic procurement of prototypes of new EO applications through ESA is connected to multilevel institutional changes in relevant service ecosystems. ESA's involvement facilitates more intensive interaction between EO companies and their targeted customers in dyadic relationships. Value cocreation processes are influenced by micro-, meso-, and macrolevel institutions. The study highlights the linkages between ESA's involvement and the purposeful entrepreneurial efforts of EO companies to change prevailing institutional arrangements. This institutional work is aimed at reconfiguring institutional arrangement at the mesolevel to make it more supportive to value-creating resource integration activities between actors in a service ecosystem.

From their initial discovery in 1848, asteroids have been recognized as valuable resources. Although not yet economically viable, asteroid mining is becoming increasingly technologically feasible. The ongoing missions, such as Lucy, Psyche 16, Hayabusa-2, and OSIRIS-REx developed by students, scientists, space agencies, and private companies, continue to improve the technology and cost readiness levels of the space mining industry. This article contextualizes the advances and prospects for the development of asteroid mining activities by building on the success of previous space resource exploration missions and predicting the future of resource utilization in development of space habitats. More than just providing a state of the art, this article highlights the importance of sustainable investments in asteroid mining projects, the strategies in vogue, and identifies the mission feasibility factors. First, this article provides an analysis of space resource exploration missions and the type of asteroids cataloged by space agencies, the International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN) and the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs. Second, this article presents key factors influencing legal, ethical, economic logistics, and technological advancements of asteroid mining missions. This also includes technoeconomic analysis of key technological factors such as accurate trajectory calculation and prediction, maneuvering capabilities, where simple performance improvements bring the asteroid and Moon mining projects nearer to their economic attainability. Finally, the impact of cost, technology readiness levels, and mission feasibility on recent unmanned space resource missions is presented, providing recommendations to bridge the existing gaps for mission execution and implementation levels. The growing threats of an asteroid impact, coupled with rapid depletion of natural resources on Earth, make asteroid mining an increasingly urgent subject. Since the existing state of technology does not meet appropriate standards, this work not only identifies and lists the current and past successful techniques and potential alternatives to gain maturity for asteroid mining missions but also presents the specific logistic aspects such as bridging the gaps in terms of legislation, in-orbit construction, and servicing using the mined resources based on existing literature. This article supports the IAWN, Impact Disaster Planning Advisory Group, Space Mission Planning Advisory Group, Space agencies, educational institutions, and interested stakeholders by providing a critical analysis of state of the art for optimal future development of the space mining industry.

The African continent presents undeniable differentiating factors to play a key role in the space economy of this century. Over the past decades, its economic pulse has sustainably raised, fomenting research efforts and investment in the development of space technology. Evaluating these factors is a recurrent task for decision makers and investors, and it consists of a thorough and difficult process of gathering non-standardized data and economic indicators from different sources. This becomes significant when aiming at comparing distinct countries concerning their potential to succeed in the space sector. As such, we propose a novel approach to increase the understanding on the multitude of factors that make a country attractive from the investment perspective in the space sector. To do so, we gathered opinion-based data from young nationals by leveraging the Space Generation Advisory Council network in Africa. We reached for distinctive representatives of the network and showcased a methodology to formulate a qualitative classification according to the country's conditions to promote fruitful investments in the space sector. In this way, we introduce the Space Business Readiness Level — which showed that most of the interviewed countries currently present either favorable or increasing conditions for investment.

This article presents a case study using Human-Centered Design (HCD) to improve the safety and experience of Spaceflight Participants (SFPs) in commercial space transportation suborbital flight scenarios. The focus of the study is on the microgravity coasting phase, where the 2 dominant expectations of SFPs involve: (1) a view of the earth from space and (2) a weightlessness experience. Although SFPs enjoy a unique experience, it is important to provide them with appropriate information in a timely fashion, especially when off-nominal events occur. To gain an insight into how cabin resources could help SFPs perform their required tasks during the microgravity coasting phase, a preliminary experiment was conducted by using a set of low-fidelity prototypes. The findings of the test should be applicable to other suborbital and orbital flight experience designs, such as Blue Origin or The Space Perspective. This article demonstrates an HCD approach for the enhancement of SFPs' safety and overall experience. It concludes with a discussion on the limitations of this study and considerations for follow-on design iterations.

Cislunar space tourism is still a futuristic concept. However, the thrill and innovation that it offers has the potential to attract the attention of High-Net-Worth Individuals. As a result, developing regular tourist-focused cislunar transportation could be an opportunity for space entrepreneurs. Moreover, once established, cyclic lunar transportation might be a factor that could improve lunar business and infrastructure such as those considered for Moon Village. Today, the commercial development of cislunar vehicles is limited by costs and long duration research and development programs, while, the commercial benefits of a reliable transportation system of crew, tools, materials, and supplies are not fully understood. Consequently, the authors present the commercial viability of a cislunar space tourism vehicle utilizing the cycler concept. This article presents a business case for such a cislunar transportation vehicle and a related portfolio of services that might be realized by 2030. The business case expands previous studies on the Cycler concept proposed by Bombardier, Farr, and Peraldi in 2016. The commercial viability of this cislunar vehicle offers the opportunity for international collaboration as well as the potential for providing access to spaceflights for the space emerging nations. The cislunar space tourism Cycler is envisaged as a modular vehicle that will orbit the Earth and the Moon on a free return trajectory in a 7-day crewed journey (based on a study by Genova and Aldrin). The modular structure provides comfortable to premium travel conditions for 8 paying customers and 3 crew members as well as transporting goods using a cargo unit and a dedicated module to conduct scientific experiments. The article proposes a vehicle architecture using available components with the current Technical Readiness Levels of 6 or higher. This approach identifies technology gaps that need to be addressed to develop cislunar tourism and transportation and demonstrates the limited number of nations that are currently involved in developing these components. Furthermore, the article introduces a risk assessment of the envisaged civil cislunar transportation system, a dedicated financial modeling tool together with potential approach for financing the system through International public–private partnerships.