Have you been following the activities of the space industry in the last couple of years? If not, you have missed a lot. The industry is transforming more and more from spacecraft designed and operated by governments to commercially build spacecraft and operated missions. This is made clear by the new Firsts achieved in the last fifteen years. These include the first:

• privately funded liquid-propellant rocket (Falcon 1 by SpaceX in 2008)
• private company to
  • successfully launch, orbit, and recover a spacecraft (Dragon by SpaceX in 2010)
  • send a spacecraft to the International Space Station (Dragon by SpaceX in 2012)
• commercial module in space (BEAM by Bigelow Aerospace in 2016)
• private company to send astronauts to orbit and the International Space Station (Crew Dragon by SpaceX in 2020)

Technological advancements

In addition, there have been technological advancements and breakthroughs, including first

• successful vertical landing of a rocket booster that reached space (New Shepard by Blue Origin in 2015)
• vertical take-off and vertical propulsive landing for an orbital rocket (Falcon 9 by SpaceX in 2015)
• reuse of an orbital rocket (Falcon 9 by SpaceX in 2017)

And these are just some examples.

China, India and the rest of the world

You might have noticed, that all the above has been achieved in the US. But the rest of the world isn’t sleeping either. Especially China is very active. And while they are catching up on a very fast pace, they are already achieving their firsts in spaceflight, like landing the first spacecraft on the far side of the moon. They are currently building their first modular space station in orbit and have just launched the first crew with a mission duration of six months.

Aside from China, India has already sent spacecrafts to the Moon (Chandrayaan-1 in 2008) and Mars (Mangalyaan in 2013). And in 2020 the United Arab Emirates Space Agency joined the other space agencies by sending a spacecraft (al-Amal) to Mars.

Looking beyond

And plans are looking far beyond low earth orbit. The Moon is a target again. With plans for manned missions and stations on the Moon and in orbit. This time with the goal of a sustained presence on the surface. Can you imagine looking at the Moon at night and knowing, that there are humans up there? We will probably experience this again in our lifetime.

But the plans go even further. Some are dreaming of a settlement on Mars. With the goal of making life multi planetary. Others are dreaming of mining asteroids for resources or moving heavy industry of the planet. There are plans for large space stations in the works. Or generating and delivering solar power from orbit to space.

You might say, that these plans have existed for a long time and nothing has happened. And that’s true. But I see a new momentum for space flight activities building up. And the development we saw in the last few years is just the beginning.

What do we need?

So, I think it’s time to take a closer look at what’s happening beyond low earth orbit right now. And then learn about what is required for humans to live and work beyond low earth orbit. Come and join me on this journey to learn and find out!