New Space

The relationship between the United States and China, with all its complexity and global consequence, is one that should be approached with clear-sighted, judicious care. This is particularly the case in the space domain. Hence, a historical overview of U.S.-China relations in this domain can both remind us of the interconnectedness between the two nations' efforts and emphasize the context from which many of their current actions and aspirations stem. Throughout this history, there has been an oscillation between suspicion and a desire for reconciliation. Even from the beginning of the relationship, key moments point to decisions made by the United States having effects that were counterproductive to their original intent and desires. The birth of the Chinese space program, a period of growing pains, and its current accelerating maturity have all been attended by the United States in some fashion and shaped in ways by U.S. policy decisions. Five generalized periods of interface for the United States and China can illustrate the nature of their space relationship: a foundational period, an adolescent trial run, the turn to a restrictive millennium, further dividing regulations, and the most recent hardening of separation.

Central European countries care about being a fully fledged member of the space family. Countries of the Central Eastern Europe (CEE) region are in a specific situation, on one hand having a space heritage gained behind the iron curtain, but on the other hand experiencing difficulties in integrating with the European Space Agency's' value chains. These countries face many challenges, including geographical location not being favorable to perform spaceflights, difficulties in gaining capital necessary to grow, or public clients with limited awareness of the benefits of the space sector. Are there, however, characteristics of countries in this region so that we could derive common features of their space sector and identify the barriers as well as prospects for success? Is being a CEE country a drawback, or maybe a chance to build up a truly modern space business in the region, being able to face the challenges of the changing space landscape? The aim of the authors coming from various fields of expertise and having different points of view (engineer, lawyers, and administration representative) is to identify the barriers to entering the space industry by the CEE countries, those that are common for the CEE countries and those that make them different. Our goal is to identify, evaluate, and assess such barriers from a legal, business, and an administrative-political perspective. The authors analyze the space sectors of CEE countries with special focus on Poland as the biggest economy in the area to identify common barriers as well as opportunities of this rich and diverse region. No clinical trial and no biomedical research involving human subjects were conducted in relation to the paper.

Space transportation has been and remains one of the most valuable resources in the constant exploration of space; after all, it is the only known way out of the atmosphere. Moreover, since devices of great size and scope generally constitute this particular transport, the use and application of aerospace technologies in this sense demand several instruments and infrastructure of significant proportions; these places are the so-called spaceports or cosmodromes, which they turn out to be the doors to space. In contrast, it is not enough to have the place itself to launch rockets and transport loads; an essential factor is a geographical location in which said port must be found so that the launch expense, which is an essential element, is much smaller. In this sense, the closer the launch site is to the equator, the more efficient the rocket's departure and subsequent launching into orbit will be due to the “slingshot effect” that it presents. Likewise, seeing the panorama of the so-called new space conquest, growth in the line of this industry is increasing, since investment and development in this sector increases by double digits every year, so it is no surprise to say that the need to reach the space in the future will be increasingly demanding. That being said, and taking into account that Peru is a favorite candidate for the installation of launch ports given its geographical location very close to Ecuador, this research aims to present a study of the impact it would have on the region and a forecast of what profit that it would represent for the country to have a cosmodrome for national and international use. Based on what is currently perceived in the aerospace field, the definitive advance in space technology development in Peru would bring enormous development. As well as demonstrate how advantageous it would be for foreign agencies and companies to have variants of access to space at the time of executing their launches. Finally, this study is expected to obtain a clear understanding of what it would demonstrate and mean for Peru and the world to have a Peruvian spaceport.

Given the significant volume of capital that will be required to develop the space resource industry, it is important to understand the fundamentals and drivers of funding in this growing industry. This article distills a series of 30 interviews with individuals representing different aspects of the space resource funding ecosystem—including entrepreneurs, corporate employees, brokers, academics, government and agency personnel, investors, and advisors—to examine and report on the current state of space resource sector funding, including identifying key partners and examining current regulation and legislation. The results of this research are intended to be used as a lens through which to understand the current state of funding within the space resource sector and to help observers interpret certain actions on the parts of individuals and companies operating in the industry.

Spaceflight is an inherently risky activity, raising safety concerns for commercial launch operators, regulators, and safety professionals. Consequently, safety is a primary component of national regulation. Recently, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) implemented an updated streamlined licensing regime reinforcing safety standards while providing industry with flexibility in demonstrating safety requirements in regards to protecting public health, safety and property from the ultra-hazardous nature of spaceflight. In 2023, 117 commercial launches were conducted in the United States alone, a stark increase from 10 years earlier. This surge in commercial spaceflight activities underlines concerns involving safety awareness, risk assessment and investigation procedures, and the potential scope of accidents, incidents, and mishaps. In 2022, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the FAA signed a new interagency agreement for space accident investigation. The NTSB has investigated commercial spaceflight accidents since 1993. However, the space industry is still within a statutory learning period, and the FAA has authority in regulating commercial spaceflight, raising questions on inter-agency jurisdiction, industry development, and appropriate space safety investigation procedures and protocols to address the needs of a growing space transportation industry. The nature of spaceflight technologies, operations, mission architectures (rocket launch vs. air-launch), and flight trajectories (suborbital vs. orbital) differs from prior transportation modalities. So what are the practical implications facing the professional safety and accident investigation community? This work aims at informing and contributing to the discussion on commercial spaceflight safety by providing an interdisciplinary perspective in law, policy, and safety to identify and address crucial aspects for commercial spaceflight safety. Specifically, this paper provides an overview of safety requirements for spaceflight, to include: a brief historical safety review, highlighting the role and scope of space authorities, outlining the safety requirements for commercial launch operators, and addressing key issues and challenges for commercial spaceflight safety going forward.

Various methods of water recovery for the life support system for deep space missions are analyzed. It is shown that the use of membrane technologies does not allow achieving the desired results both in terms of the level of water recovery and energy consumption. The advantages and disadvantages of the centrifugal distiller installed on the International Space Station are analyzed. Its water recovery is only 85%, which does not allow the use of this system for deep space missions. The experimental results of the centrifugal multiple-effect distiller study are shown. It is able to recover 92% of the water from the solution without any deposits on the heat transfer surface; the specific power consumption varies from 90 to 160 W∙hr/kg in a 3-stage distiller and from 70 to 120 W∙hr/kg in a 5-stage distiller. The technologies that allow extracting water from the obtained brine up to 99% are reviewed.