Future Human Space Exploration: Broadening the support base
- Paper number
IAC-07-B3.1.05
- Author
Mr. Daniel Sacotte, European Space Agency (ESA)/ESTEC, The Netherlands
- Coauthor
Mr. Marc Haese, European Space Agency (ESA)/ESTEC, The Netherlands
- Year
2007
- Abstract
In the paper, the author will comment on how the evolution of human space exploration is now calling for a new support base, including but not limited to the traditional, space industrial and scientific communities. The paper will give a brief excursus on the rational that in the past triggered the investments of the industrialised world in human spaceflight and exploration, and on how this rational has today changed, requiring the engagement of the society at large in a context of international cooperation. Focus will then be brought onto the on-going human spaceflight projects, in particular the International Space Station programme, and their evolution in both, the institutional and the private sectors, where a trend - and a need – for new investors is becoming evident. These new “users” (e.g. the non-space industrial and scientific communities, the educational sector, the tourism sector) can maximise the return on investment in terms of societal and scientific knowledge, and industrial benefits. Finally, the paper will look into the future of human spaceflight: the exploration of our planetary system, Moon and Mars. These endeavours require that the objectives and the investments are shared by a wide range of communities: a dedicated, highly technically competent workforce will need to be engaged for an extended period of time, new technologies will have to be developed to sustain long duration, human flights and the settlement in other celestial bodies; new cooperation and financing methods will have to be applied – possibly envisaging a combination of institutional and private support. Future Human Space Endeavors can only be achieved with an innovative approach that calls for the engagement of the whole society, in a context of peaceful, international cooperation.
- Abstract document