Elon Musk, Leonardo da Vinci and Wernher Von Braun

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. Space Renaissance is both a goal and an astronautical humanist association: 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. We do not agree with the violence and so promote peaceful, collaborative civilian space development as an alternative to military interests.

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: