News

SRI News

Apr

2018

Elon Musk is the Bob Dylan of our Time

A brief letter to the “March For Our Lives” movement

by Adriano V. Autino

Dear students and supporters,

Fifty years ago, when I was your age, my generation rebelled throughout the world against the stupid and warmongering powers which rewarded exploitation and oppressed the exploited. We demonstrated for freedom and equal opportunities for all peoples in the world, regardless of the latitude where they were born or whatever social class that they belonged to.

The American student movement against the Vietnam War was an inspiring flame for similar movements that were born in other places throughout the world. Our heroes were the poets and musicians of the beat generation, of whom Bob Dylan is perhaps the most unanimously recognized representative. Dylan sang his deeply humanist lyrics, always projecting his vision far beyond the short-sighted classist and hateful ideology that unfortunately characterized many of the protest movements, severely limiting their innovative and genuinely progressive character.

The brightest minds realized that freedom, equality and brotherhood, which had been proclaimed two centuries ago by the French Revolution, were not enough to fuel progress. To fuel progress, wealth is also needed. Poverty does not generate progress: it can at most stimulate ideas and initiatives (“stay hungry, stay foolish, …” as Steve Jobs said). However, if ideas and initiatives do not find the necessary resources they cannot develop. Whether wealth is conceived as a reward to the best ones or as a distribution criteria for social equity, if there is no wealth, there can be no social model useful for the progress and the well-being of civilization. Poverty only generates barbarism, authoritarianism, despotic bureaucracy, dictatorship and contempt for life. Therefore, at least one fundamental concept must be added to the values of the bourgeois revolution of two centuries ago: wealth. Eventually, then, we can discuss how it is more ethical to distribute wealth, but first of all we must ensure that there is sufficient wealth for everyone, if we truly believe that every human being has the right to live peacefully and seek happiness.

Now, let’s ask ourselves a fundamental question: “Has the concept of global wealth, of abundance necessary for humanity, already found poets and musicians capable of transmitting this “good news” all over the world?” In my opinion, yes it has.

A couple of months ago Elon Musk launched his car on a Falcon Heavy into space. This gesture was highly symbolic, as Musk is saying that we shall continue our civilian activities — particularly industrial development — in outer space. Also please notice the strong symbolism represented by the life and career of Elon Musk: he creates wealth and spends it on the future of humanity. He is able to understand and conceptualize, as have Stephen Hawking and a few other excellent minds of our time, that almost eight billion humans living on the third planet of the Solar System will not survive if they remain confined within the limits of their home planet. Inevitably, a myriad of fragmented tribes will be reduced to fiercely fighting over dwindling resources in order to survive in an ever deteriorating environment, as has been portrayed in many dystopian science fiction scenarios that have been “sensitizing” us for years about what to expect. Yet, the Solar System holds nearly infinite resources and the energy necessary for maintaining and perpetuating a truly free and peaceful civilization.

We must not expect the messengers of the Renaissance to always present themselves in the same form. This is the mistake made by all the nostalgic people who despair, regretting the movements of the past and lamenting their absence today.

Elon Musk speaks to the world today as much as Bob Dylan did so fifty years ago. Musk is part of a new visionary and progressive entrepreneur class that has been generated by the industrial civilization of the last two centuries, and he speaks to those who will understand it.

In approximately twenty countries where periodic tests have been carried out, it now seems that the intellectual quotient (IQ) of the latest generations has increased from 3 to 8 points every 10 years (the Flynn Effect). It is therefore my deep conviction that many will understand this message. Indeed, as it often happens, messengers probably interpret feelings that are already publicly widespread and present in society.

[English editing: Arthur Woods]

Download this article in pdf (also for printing and flyering)

Visit the Space Renaissance websites:
https://spacerenaissance.space
https://academy.spacerenaissance.space
https://usa.spacerenaissance.space
https://spacerenaissance.it
https://sritac.spacerenaissance.space

If you think what we do deserves to be supported, consider to join SRI as a member:
https://spacerenaissance.space/membership/

Feb

2018

A car towards the Asteroid Belt

by Adriano V. Autino

On February 6, 2018 SpaceX launched the Falcon Heavy for the first time. It was the most powerful operative rocket of the world with the capability to lift payloads of up to 63.8 tons into low earth orbit (LEO), 26.7 tons into geostationary transfer orbit (GTO), 16.8 tons to Mars and 3.5 tons to Pluto. The main competitor, ULA’s Delta IV Heavy, can deliver only 28.8 tons to LEO[1]. The largest launch system of the past remains the Saturn V, the rocket that brought the Apollo missions to the Moon (140 tons to LEO), followed by the Energia, built to orbit the Soviet Union’s Buran space shuttle (100 tons to LEO without the Buran).

As amply illustrated by the media, SpaceX is a highly innovative private company. Indeed, the first private industry capable of competing on an equal footing with NASA in developing launch vehicles. Competing, and yet additionally, SpaceX is also a supplier of NASA. And thanks to these government contracts, SpaceX also obtained the capital needed to develop this technology.

70 meters high, Falcon Heavy is boosted by a first stage composed of three Falcon 9 modules, all of which are programmed to return to Earth after the launch in order to be reused in further launches. The total number of engines is 27. What are the more innovative ideas which allowed SpaceX to deliver payloads to orbit that are three times greater than its main competitor at one sixth of the cost? The main point is the reusability, an expedient concept, which has been widely discussed and appreciated, that utilizes existing technologies in the framework of a newer and pragmatic strategy. The important factors for Elon Musk, are both the vision and the mission requirements which are fairly different from the traditional objectives of the space agencies. While the latter emphasize scientifically oriented space exploration as their strategic priority, Musk aims to actually accelerate the evolution of humanity into a spacefaring species that creates a multi-planetary civilization. This is shown in his determination to carry tourists to Mars and to the Moon.

Of course there are some key questions. For example: Will Musk’s future tourists need specialized astronaut training? In this case would they still be considered to be 100% civilian passengers? Will they be provided with the same warrants that airlines give to their passengers? For a ride of one week or so to the Moon these travelers would require only moderate protection from cosmic radiation but going to Mars is quite another prospect. Some of the key issues are related to the shift of the current paradigm – moving from astronaut space travel towards the space transportation of civilian passengers and a medium time spent in space.

Such issues should be adequately defined and solved. This means, that even if we just wanted to send, let’s say, five trained astronauts to Mars, they should have a suitable protection against cosmic radiation and maybe a rotating section of their ship with an artificial terrestrial gravity of 1G.

Even so, we are now applauding the successful launch of the Falcon Heavy. Yet, it is interesting to observe some further, relevant and pragmatic ideas which are typical of SpaceX’s strategy. From a technological point of view, SpaceX has simply applied, with the support of today’s computer technology, what the Russians tried to do many decades ago: instead of building giant engines, they utilize many smaller ones operating in parallel, in this case twenty seven. The Soviet Union had proposed a similar approach from the 1960s to early 1970s. N-1 was a 30-engine super-heavy rocket, designed to take a 75-ton payload to orbit and perhaps to the Moon, Mars and Venus. N-1 was test-launched four times: each launch failed, largely because of the prior difficulties in running so many engines at the same time. Yet this is something that any middle school student could do nowadays, using modern microprocessors and their real time processor control capabilities. The same computational discourse would apply to the dynamic control of the three first stage boosters during the different phases of the flight, in order to properly distribute the structural load of the thrust.

All of these achievements are like music to the ears of any sincere space advocate! Finally someone is demonstrating that things can be done very much simpler and cheaper, with respect to the persisting criticalities and high costs of space flight put forward be various launch providers which have monopolized the aerospace market for so many years!

Exciting? Definitely. I watched with great joy and sense of wonder the live broadcast of the Falcon Heavy launch and the re-entry of the two boosters on SpaceX’s website. The soundtrack was no less than David Bowie’s, “Life On Mars”… and then we saw the cherry red Tesla Roadster coasting in Earth’s orbit.

We are on the right track no doubt, although we are still mostly talking about bringing materials into orbit (payloads) and not untrained civilian passengers. However, on Falcon Heavy’s inaugural flight, there was a particular “payload”, which may be indicative, a Tesla Roadster. Perhaps in this case we should be talking less about a “useless load”, but rather the strong symbolic content. This was in fact a payload that speaks directly to the industrial heart of our earthly entrepreneurs. Elon Musk is telling us, in a language which is based more on facts than on the demonstration of concepts: “I want to take you up there, to continue your earthly life by other means, in another environment, much larger, where the degrees of freedom and inventiveness will multiply in all directions, into a geometrically spherical progression!”

We might also question if moving from existing space transport systems for trained astronauts towards low cost civilian passenger transport vehicles will be a linear, or seamlessly developing path? The answer is unfortunately a clear NO. Before the metaphor of the car in space can translate into wide scale (human) industrial activities in space, transportation and housing systems for untrained civilian passengers will be an essential factor.

Here is the fundamental basis which needs to be carefully considered and understood. We must fully describe the difference between low-cost and generic access to orbit and the low cost orbital transport of civilian passengers. The first process is already taking place, thanks to SpaceX and the development of markets in China and India. But, for now, only the space tourism companies, a sector that is still waiting to start commercial flights, are aiming for the objective of transporting civilian passengers – a scope that is limited for now to the suborbital altitude. Moreover, the prospect of transporting and housing civilians in space will include many criteria, meeting many obstacles and opponents, and cannot be fully developed without clear political support. In fact, many dimensions within the growth of private industry would be involved, working for both technological features, public research, and also for scientific and legal aspects. At very minimum these facets would include: low-cost transport vehicles, low accelerations, high safety technology, safe and softer re-entry into the atmosphere, inter-orbital maneuverability, protection against cosmic radiation and the potential for artificial gravity. Last but not least, the development of an up-to-date space legal system, to allow for and to regulate commercial activities exploiting extraterrestrial resources

There are many reasons why we today applaud Elon Musk and his clear leadership in space. However, future developments also demand our attention to Jeff Bezos’ plans for geo-lunar space industrialization which, together with space tourism, could become the needed “second leg” for kicking off civilian expansion into space.

[English editing: Amalie Sinclair, Arthur Woods]

This article is also available for download, in pdf format.

Visit the Space Renaissance websites:

https://spacerenaissance.space
https://academy.spacerenaissance.space
https://usa.spacerenaissance.space
https://spacerenaissance.it
https://sritac.spacerenaissance.space

If you think what we do deserves to be supported, consider to join SRI as a member:

https://spacerenaissance.space/membership/

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_orbital_launch_systems#cite_note-spacex-capabilities-37

Oct

2017

Why get off this rock, an interview by Sarah Hoyt to Jeff Greason

In this excellent interview, Jeff Greason explains in plain and simple words why civilization needs to expand into the outer space, why the expansion shall be a manned one, and why we need it now, and not in a distant future. We copied here, adding some comments of ours, some of the most interesting points made by Jeff. But of course we invite everybody to read the whole interview.

About the basic socio-economic need for civilian space development, Jeff says: “There are many reasons which are true, but I find secondary, though others find them compelling. For example, the industrial and economic development of space is going to require both machines and people – just as has been the case in all past economic development efforts. And that economic development will drive some significant features of life on Earth. For example, raising the standard of living of everyone on the planet to “first world” levels is going to require something like 30% increase in the energy use of human civilization, and space is about the only place to get that (if you didn’t know, the solar system has about a billion Earth’s worth of energy available).”

And, on the philosophical topic: “There is the long run argument, that there are indeed risks to the survival of the human species; planetary disasters, both natural and man-made, are possible. A good argument can be made that all successful species spread to all available ecological niches, and human beings are unique in that we have used tools and technology to redefine what we can consider “habitable” – if you think things like clothing, agriculture, controlled fire, fishing and whaling boats, aren’t ‘technology’ then try living without them! And it is our increased use of energy, to drive high intensity agriculture, fertilizers, transportation of food and materials, heating and cooling, synthesis of metals and concrete, and most recently, global trade, that has allowed us to greatly expand the human population and decrease dramatically both the fraction of that population, and even the absolute number of people who live in serious poverty. If we want civilization to continue, we need to continue that expansion to new niches, and if we want to insulate ourselves against risks to the planet, we need that population to include as many planets – indeed, as many star systems – as possible.”

Hereafter, Jeff addresses an argument that is very relevant, for us at Space Renaissance, the argument of urgency, and how to communicate this urgency to the people at large. “I think that argument is true but it lacks urgency. It’s like defending against an asteroid strike – it’s easy to see it’s a good idea, and that it would be cheap insurance, but after all, it might not strike for a thousand years, so that doesn’t strike people as urgent. And the fact that it’s just as likely to happen next month as in a thousand years doesn’t move people, even though that’s quite true.”

Another argument dear to SRI is then developed: we are not simply interested to survive as a species, we want our civilization to survive, with our way of life, that means our culture, as it results from hundreds thousands years of history and our freedom. “What motivates me is not so much the threat to human civilization, but to the KIND of civilization I want to live in – one that values human beings and human freedom. It is common for people to treat those conditions as if that was the normal condition of humanity when very obviously, it is not now the norm everywhere on the planet, and as recently as a few centuries ago, was not the norm anywhere on the planet. Having a physical frontier – a place you can go, if you really, really want to, has been essential to the maintenance of that kind of civilization, for two reasons. First, is philosophical. Why should you value freedom? If someone else has something you want, why not go and take it? Yes, we all know that trade and civilization could not exist if there were no security of private property – but what’s that to you? You have to understand – to believe — that you have something to gain from civilization – that you have a stake in it. You have to understand that it is NOT a zero-sum game – that the pie can get bigger. A quick study of history shows that it has been getting bigger, very fast, but people don’t study history. They have to SEE it. Well, when you can see new lands next door, new farms, new fields, new forests, it’s hard to convince people that they can’t better themselves if they want to put in the work. Calls for socialism and collectivism find fewer ears.”

Of course, in a context of abundant resources and greater social development opportunities for everyone, there will be objectively less opportunities for coercive collectivist regimes, of any ideological imprinting, both socialist or fascist. And, we would like to add, also calls for wars and violent confrontations should find fewer ears. So there will be a chance for some ethical step forward.

Interview part one, including an essential Jeff’s bio.

Interview part two, the philosophical and socio-economic discussion.

Jun

2017

Seven million and a half kg of gold in orbit

Thanks to Stefano Antonetti, Bernard Farkin and Manuel Perez for commenting and editing this article.

As of 1957, it is estimated that on average 132 orbital launches have been made per year, leading to a total of about eight thousand. 4256 satellites were traced by UNOOSA in August 2016, of which only 1419 (33%) are operating. About 18,000 are orbital scrap large enough (more than 10 cm.) to be traced. About 64% of traceable objects are fragments resulting from destructive events such as explosions or collisions. A much larger population of debris can not be monitored operationally. In the space between low orbit (LEO, 300 km) and geostationary orbit(GEO, 36 thousand km) travel – at orbital velocity – an estimated number of 700,000 objects larger than 1 cm and 170 million objects of dimensions greater than 1 mm. Which means that the near Earth space region becomes more and more dangerous. But this is not the aspect I want to talk about today. Those who know me for my predominantly philosophical works may be surprised by this article, which includes a number of economic and social considerations. In fact, I want to demonstrate the convenience — today, and not in a distant future — of investing in orbital industrial activities conducted by human technicians, with respect to fully robotic operations. Moreover, without offending all those who continue to oppose and fear civilian expansion into outer space, it is enough to analyse the environment we are talking about, to understand that the most promising activities are simply unworkable without the presence of human operators. This is a presentist vision rather than a futurist one: Space Renaissance, the international association that i am honored to preside, promotes civil expansion in outer space, we aim to stimulate investments, revive the economy and develop millions of new jobs today, and not in the near future …

Space debris: do we need an orbital car crusher?

So let’s start from scrap, or space waste, or debris… I.e. objects that, according to a very common opinion, no longer have any useful purpose. But is it true? Let’s make some calculations.

The total weight of space scrap is about 7,500 tons, or 7.5 million kilograms. The cost of ground-to-orbit transport has remained steady over the last 50 years, around $ 20,000 per kilo, kept high by a cartel made up of large builders of expendable rockets, grouped in the North American ULA (United Launch Alliance). Recent history sees China and India positioning their payload price between $ 10 and $ 25,000 per kilo. But the monopoly of spendable rockets was broken only by the advent of Space X’s reusable launchers, which triggered a Renaissance process of which we have seen so far only the first steps. How much did it cost to send 7.5 Million Kilos of terrestrial artifacts? At $ 20,000 per kilo, about $ 300 billion. If we then add the costs of design, construction and management, it is not difficult to get a total cost of close to 1 $ trillion. Considering that the current price of gold is around $ 41,000 per kilo, it is like saying that we have a heritage comparable to 7.5 million pounds of gold orbiting over our heads, if we like to see it from an economic point of view. If, like me, you want to see it from the civilisation ethical and evolutionary point of view as well, it is aaas if we wanted to lock ourselves in a golden cage, but without taking care, so far, to develop systems capable of remedying this disaster.

We can even smile, although it’s a bitter smile. Do we bear in mind the case of big citiy waste? The situation is not different, indeed: waste constitutes an environmental tragedy only for those who have not yet decided to use it. For those who own good recycling facilities, waste is worth gold! In addition, for the plant owners, the profit is made twice, as it not only produces energy and materials of various use, but they are paid to receive the waste from those who are not equipped to use them as well! We can well imagine how those who have invested in the recycling industry have a cynical but understandable smile on their face, when considering the still large array of suckers who pay to dispose of their wealth!
Did you get the picture, looking down at the ground? Well, now look up. We immediately realize that, with regard to so-called space waste, the whole world is blind, and no companies have yet emerged capable of investing in the facilities needed for the collection, processing and reuse of this immense orbital wealth. By developing orbiting modular workshops – the experience with the International Space Station is fundamental – we can begin to capture scrap, separate metals from plastic, grind the various components and extract dust, the “raw” material for 3d printing. What are we waiting for?

New space industry is taking first steps on this roadmap. D-ORBIT, a small Italian company, develops a system for satellite decommissioning at the end of their life cycle. A first step, aimed at not producing new waste. But all travel begins with a first step. And the fact that there are those who reason and operate at this level is quite comforting, indeed.

Disposing of new satellites by means of special on board subsystems, causing them to burn up in the atmosphere, is a necessary precautionary measure, aimed at limiting the production of new waste. Capturing existing scrap, and throwing it in the same way into the “incinerator” of reentering the atmosphere, would solve the problem of orbital remediation. However, in the medium to long term, these are “losing” investments, since they are not aimed at using the wealth of space scrap, but rather adds costs to the terrestrial community. Economically speaking, the destruction of waste, both on the ground and in space, is equivalent in value to destroying a great value. Not to mention that, however, in order to capture orbital scrap, we will already need machines capable of interorbital maneuvers, piloted and operated by human beings. Therefore, it is worth dealing with a more ambitious program at the outset, and at the same time develop both collection and process-reuse facilities.

It is clear that, with such a wider range of views, we are including a much larger number of stakeholders: the security of orbital flights — any mission or freight or passengers transportation for anywhere in space must pass through Earth orbit–, whatever their motivation and destination, exploration or tourism, low orbit or Jupiter moons, industrial research or settlement, etc …; short / medium term investment return; global industrial and economic development; social benefits, employment, the development of new markets.

Workshops, service stations and orbital factories

And here we come to the second great and promising presentist challenge. Space scrap recovery and recycling connects fluidly, seamlessly with another major industrial activity. Our orbital workshops, already set up on site with the aim of collecting and processing space scrap, are enriched and differentiated by another feature: the in-orbit assembly of satellites. Supported by robotic mechanisms, our workshop starts to become an orbital satellite factory. Do you like using some retro terms, like “factory”? Although strongly projected onto Renaissance innovation, we are also extremely conscious of how much we owe to our parents and grandparents … who have given their sweat and often their lives, building industrial civilization 1.0. And we like to continue to use certain terms as a tribute to that civilization that they had built with hope in a better future… at the dawn of the Renaissance of Industrial Civilization 2.0, hoping and struggling so that this was the end of the pre-space-age recession.

So, for investors, assembling satellites in orbit by human technicians will lead to a substantial reduction in many sources of expenditure. Firstly, we should bear in mind that every ground-assembled satellite needs expensive automation for the deployment of photovoltaic panels and communication antennas. Such automated mechanisms are also very expensive, since they must be robust enough to withstand the great vibrations and huge accelerations of the launch. If the assembly of the satellite will be in orbit, we can get rid of such mechanisms. And the weight to be dispatched to orbit will be less. Secondly, consider that, with the exception of orbital telescopes, any satellite maintenance is very expensive in the present paradigm, and therefore unfeasible. The components are thus very costly, since they shall be resistant to cosmic hard radiation, and responsive to the most restrictive fault tolerance and fault avoidance requirements. Our orbital workshops could take care of the satellites’ location as well as of their periodic maintenance and repair, which would allow the use of commercial components at a much lower cost. Finally, orbital workshops could take care of the satellites de-commissioning at the end of their lifecycle, so they would also save automated decommissioning systems, at least for larger machines. The decommissioning subsystems of the smaller satellites could be programmed to return to the nearest collection station at the end of their life. It goes without saying that the periodic maintenance of the satellites would lengthen their life, resulting in a further reduction in overall costs and parallel increase in profitability.

Summarizing: any automation that we can avoid onboard the satellite reduces the cost of design, components, development, testing, integration and launch. But it’s not over here: we talked about recycling. And here we close a first circle: with the material output of the scrap processing plants we will feed the orbital factories, which can produce parts of satellites in orbit, by means of 3d printing, further reducing the development and launch costs! Here, the frontier begins to produce on its own, and then to start a real exo-economy, though still tied to Earth by a robust umbilical cord …

So far, we have only talked about two orbital industrial threads, space scrap recycling and in-orbit satellites assembly. But urgently need to start get the ball rolling! A myriad of jobs and trades will be born around and supporting civil industrial activities in space. Just think only of the vast constellation of jobs that were born following the development of the web and the development of renewable energy sources … scared about artificial intelligence? It does not make sense! The world is so varied, and the environment of outer space even more so, that we can not do without human intelligence, creativity and flexibility – provided that it was convenient to do without, and we saw that it is not. Above all, we can never ask for a machine, apart from seeing a danger for which it was not programmed, to have insight into the potentials that become evident in the most inscrutable ways to human mind, often re-emerging after a day of depression and pessimism … or in front of a spectacular rise of blue Earth from the lunar horizon …
So let’s list here in bulk, but we’ll come back soon with more details, a series of industrial activities that can all be done on a 20-year horizon, thanks to new enabling technologies such as reusable launch systems, and additive manufacturing: large orbital solar energy collection facilities, fueling stations for geo-lunar and interplanetary transports, lunar and asteroid raw material processing plants, orbital, lunar and lunar orbital hotels, orbital yards for construction and assembly of spacecraft for various destinations, low and zero gravity hospitals, lunar and asteroid minerals mining, spinning orbital villages, lunar research, exploration, and industrial infrastructures.

All this opens another chapter that also needs to be urgently addressed: space law, which is firmly bound to the Treaty on the Peaceful Use of the Outer Space, which is the 50th anniversary this year. We will talk about this soon.

In 2017 Space Renaissance will develop, or contribute to, several initiatives as part of the Space Renaissance Tour:

– Nigeria, 18-21 October 2017 – Lead City University, Ibadan, hosts the first event of the Space Renaissance Tour:
The Event’s home page on the Space Renaissance website
The Event on Facebook
The Space Renaissance Nigeria Facebook page

– USA, USIP, October 10th, Outer Space Treaty, 50 Years Anniversary, news will be given on:
the Space Renaissance USA, Inc website. and
the Space Renaissance USA Facebook page

– Italia, Outer Space Treaty, 50 Years Anniversary: an opportunity to boost the adoption of a true space law system, to rule and support civil activities in space, news will be given on:
the Space Renaissance Italia website and
the Space Renaissance Italia Facebook page

– UK, Space Renaissance Tour events will take place in Glasgow and Edinbourgh, stay tuned on:
the Space Renaissance UK Facebook page

Please also don’t forget, to develop all of the above, and more, we do need money… donate to the Space Renaissance Tour Crowdfunding campaign
And join us, registering as a member of the Space Renaissance

May

2017

Manuel Perez and Adriano Autino talk about the USIP event and requirements for an Outer Space Law

Space Renaissance USA, together with Lifeboat Foundation, will held an event, next October 10th 2017, at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) in Washington.

The event will celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the “Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies” (Outer Space Treaty http://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/spacelaw/treaties/introouterspacetreaty.html), proposed in 1967, by the United States of America, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union. Later it was signed by 106 Countries, and other 24 Countries are going through the process for signing it.

The Treaty was never updated, and it only provides rules for national governments operations in outer space, for the peaceful use of space environment.

In our last international congress (October 2016), SRI approved a short list of requirements, for the quick implementation of an Outer Space Law, to provide rules for civilian activities, expanding human rights into the Outer Space.

Manuel Perez and Adriano Autino discuss relationship among the International and national chapters

Manuel Perez, President of Space Renaissance USA, and Adriano Autino, President of Space Renaissance International, talk about the relationship among the International and the national chapters.

May

2017

World wide call: support the Space Renaissance!

Dear SRI Friends and Supporters,

2017 is a wonderful opportunity, being the 50th anniversary of the Outer Space Treaty, to bring to the public attention the theme of the expansion of civilian activities and expanding civilian rights into the Outer Space.

Trying to be coherent with the commitments we took in our last congress, a few months ago, we are developing several projects, in different countries, naming just some of these initiatives:
– a primary Space Renaissance Tour in Nigeria, next October
– an event at USIP, in the USA, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Outer Space Treaty, and solicit a revision and further implementation of it
– a similar event in Italy, in collaboration with ASI and ESA
– conferences in the UK, with universities in Glasgow and Edinbourgh
– developing Space Renaissance Academy, an high profile Institute for education and outreach.

Besides, the SR International is strongly committed to sustain our supporters in all countries where they are working to create a Space Renaissance Chapter: India, Nigeria, UK, and other ones.

In this respect, i’d like to communicate here what is our spirit and setup, promoting local chapters of SR International.
Local chapters are very important, for us: without local chapters no international organization would exist.
Only local chapters allow people to work together in the real life, and not only on the web. To see each other face to face, and not only via electronic means. A real solidarity and practical sharing of goals and activities can ve developed only by human direct contact. The network is important, of course: just think about how it was hard, for international organizations to develop, 50 years ago, without the world wide web…
The network is a necessary but not sufficient condition, for an international to develop, national groups of activists need to meet, to agree their agendas, to work in their own country reality, political environment, people’s cultural perception level…

SR International is not a political party, we don’t claim to create a world wide political leadership.
The aims of the International are to develop the philosophy, to understand the current status of civilization, by means of our social analysis, and this is what we make in our international congresses.
We give general indications, about priority industrial developments.
We suggest equally cooperation and fair competition, among nations, for the opening of the space frontier, for the extension of civilian rights in outer space. In this respect the International acts like FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association).
So we encourage peaceful and fair competition, and the generous sharing of know how and experience, achieved by the already space-faring Countries, with the Countries that are initiating their journey into space.

Should a SRI local chapter publically work for the primacy of its Country, for the leadership in the conquer of space? Yes, of course! Any real progress in the human expansion in outer space will be however for the benefit of the whole humanity!
Yes, history will always remember who was first in Earth Orbit, who was first on the Moon, who will be first on Mars, who will be the first capturing and asteroid and transforming it in a geo-lunar habitat…
But noting will prevent others, after the first, to do the same! And the acquired know how will be precious.

So, dear friends and supporters, be patriots, and be earthling citizen, at the same time, and give birth to Space Renaissance local Chapters!

However, i am here today also to ask you for money, to support all what we do.
Your contribute is precious: without your registration fees, we could sustain our websites, our newsletters, our tax duties, nor provide a small support for kicking-off new chapters.

Please register as a member.

If you register to a local chapter, you will be however also a member of the International.
Please also consider a donation.

Also, you can donate to our crowdfunding campaign for the Space Renaissance Tour, if you like so.

If you live in the UK, you might like to contact Ryan J. Curtis, to help him creating the SRI UK chapter.
And, if you live in India, you could write to Sourav Karmakar.

Choose your preferred way, but please support the Space Renaissance!

Ad Astra!

Apr

2017

Elon Musk, Leonardo da Vinci and Wernher Von Braun

It’s been over three months since our last newsletter, and we won’t deny that this break was mainly due to a necessary reflection. Renaissance years are never easy, as history teaches us, and this historical phase is manifesting more and more hectic and contradictory, if not chaotic, events. Political turmoil and movements came about centuries ago, and are doing so again, dividing countries, and offering simplistic answers to complex problems, pushing for change. In fact, today our world looks like a bubbling cauldron, where the global communication network allows the diffusion in real time of information on everything that happens. But the true cultural contribution of the network is a general awareness of the great similarity of all peoples in the world: we share feelings, expectations, aims and desires while simultaneously chasing vastly different goals. This is what the 21^st Century Renaissance looks like, and what we assume the 15^th Century Renaissance was like to the people of that era, with a big difference: thanks to the global network, now we know that all of us humans have the same hopes and fears.

Space Renaissance is both a goal and an astronautical humanist association (and not a political party). Our mission is to accelerate the kickoff of the expansion of civilization into space. Sadly, history tells us that undesirable violence and injustice seem to inevitably accompany all advances the renaissance might bring to humanity, but that does not mean we must stand quietly by when this happens. The first rocket to fly in space, V2, was developed by the Von Braun team at the German Peenemunde base, Hitler’s space research center. The first man to fly in orbit was Yuri Gagarin, in 1961, during the Stalinist dictatorship. Leonardo Da Vinci designed war engines while simultaneously promoting human scientific development. We do not agree with the violence and so promote peaceful, collaborative civilian space development as an alternative to military interests.

What does militarism in space development mean? Is our civilization still so immature that we need to promote control and centralized power in order to rediscover a healthy boost to development? We cannot think (only) this way: humanity has demonstrated maturity in other areas of development and we trust will continue to do so in those that are still devoted to violence. The Renaissance we see is composed of progress-oriented vectors in technology, politics, economics, culture, education, civil rights, etc.

In this turmoil, believing the promises of one politician or another is a mistake: Renaissance is a historical process that goes beyond any individual speech. Actions speak louder than words. Elon Musk, for example, is a leader in space technology development and other innovations, but he is not alone. As we see it, Musk sums up the attitude of astronautical humanists: our priority, our imperative, is to open the outer space to civil activities, expanding human rights over there, and considering outer space an arena where human rights can develop very much further.

The dream of Von Braun was to fly the first rockets in space: should he have spurned the Nazi funds, and faced a firing squad? Wasn’t it better, for all of us, that he chose to pursue his astronautic dream, while pretending to develop a weapon? Historians report the poor combat effectiveness of v2, just because it was too technologically advanced, and was constructed of hard to get metals.

It makes sense, to ask ourselves another question: will land conflicts extend to outer space? Even this is possible. We believe that the opening of the space frontier, and the expansion of civil activities in outer space, can put an end to the global crisis and create a new long Renaissance age, gradually mitigating all social problems, conflicts, making resource wars obsolet, bringing peace and ethical evolution everywhere. It will be a long and complex process, but we think that the symptoms of strong economic recovery will be seen soon, and will be of enormous encouragement, even if, quite hypothetical, some spark of war were initially spread into Earth orbit.

In summary, if our priority is the opening of the space frontier, why should we refuse to work with anyone willing to allocate funds, facilities and patronage in support of this great epoch-making process? If we can even give a positive opinion on the decision taken by Von Braun, and later by the Soviet scientists, working under Hitler and Stalin, why shouldn’t we allow modern innovators to do the same? Should we change our mission, and to strive for a progressive enlightened democracy to be affirmed worldwide before resuming the journey into space? We believe not, because such a goal could never be reached without opening the space frontier. Collaborative efforts involve everyone, just as democratic processes do. Good, bad, friendly or offensive, this is a process for all humanity to participate in. That’s the foundation on which our ideological priorities have been built. This does not change the criticisms that, as humanists, we must make on Hitler, Stalin, and any other promoter of murders and genocide. Therefore we are waiting, but not passively, for the first decisive moves of Earth’s political leaders, for moving forward with the civilian expansion of humanity into outer space.

In 2017 Space Renaissance will develop, or contribute to, several initiatives as part of the Space Renaissance Tour:

Nigeria, 18-21 October 2017 – Lead City University, Ibadan, hosts the first event of the Space Renaissance Tour:

USA, USIP, October 10th, Outer Space Treaty, 50 Years Anniversary, – news will be given on:

Italia, Outer Space Treaty, 50 Years Anniversary, an opportunity to boost the adoption of a true space law system, to rule and support civil activities in space – news will be given on:

UK, Space Renaissance Tour events will take place in Glasgow and Edinbourgh, stay tuned on:

https://www.facebook.com/SpaceRenaissanceUK/

Please also don’t forget, to develop all of the above, and more, we do need money… donate to the Space Renaissance Tour Crowdfunding campaign.

And join us, registering as a member of the Space Renaissance.

Jan

2017

A survey on space tourism

In the near future it may be possible to buy a ticket and travel into space. Indeed, several people have already done so. We would like to know how much you are willing to pay for a trip into space, what kind of trip you might like to take, and how much risk you are willing to accept.

We will ask you two questions about each of three kinds of space trips one might take. There are no right or wrong answers. Please answer exactly what you really think and feel. After these questions there are some optional questions about you. Fee free to ignore these if you prefer. Here’s the first trip:

Trip 1 lasts three to five hours with five other tourists and one staff member in a small capsule. You are rocketed into orbit hundreds of miles above the Earth, jammed into your seat by the acceleration in an adrenaline-pumping experience like no other. You will go around the world two or three times, each orbit taking about 90 minutes. Through small individual windows you will see the heavens and almost the entire Earth from your vantage point far above the clouds. You will experience continuous weightlessness as you move about the cabin in a whole new way. Amenities will be minimal: bottled water, cold finger food, no toilet but a way to urinate. There will be no privacy.

Please reply to all questions here.

The questionnaire was prepared by Al Globus, supported by the ELEO group.