The Role of Space Habitat Technology in Developing Robust Sustainable Communities on Earth

Although most advocates of space settlement have focused on the potential value of natural resources and energy from space to nations on Earth the most important contribution will from the technology that will be developed to enable sustainable communities in space. The technologies necessary to create the closed cycle economy that is required for communities in space will result in the creation of similar closed cycle economies on Earth enabling humanity to increase its independence of the cycles of nature that have impacted societies throughout history. Remote work, robotic mining, controlled environment agriculture, molecular agriculture, resource recycling and additive manufacturing will transform the Earth’s economy far more that the actual import of resources and energy from space by enabling society to make more efficient use of Earth’s limited resources. The theme of building communities in space will accelerate the research and integration of these technologies to create a new economic revolution that will transform human society. This theme also has the potential to reinvigorate the increase students in STEM fields by providing them with a worthwhile goal they would be able to personality contribute to achieving.

Thomas Matula, Ph.D. is a Professor of Business Administration at Sul Ross State University – Rio Grande College. A futurist, Dr. Matula, research focus has been on the economic history of humanity and its expansion into space. His most recent research has been on crafting strategies for developing sustainable space communities and their potential benefits to creating a sustainable economy on Earth. Dr. Matula earned his BGS in General Studies from New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in 1983 and both an MBA and a Ph.D. in Business Administration from New Mexico State University. While at New Mexico State University, Dr. Matula was part of the Southwest Regional Spaceport Task Force that created Spaceport America and used the research he conducted on the spaceport as his dissertation topic. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Space Renaissance International and the Space Renaissance Academy. Dr. Matula has published numerous articles on the economic development of space and the space industry.

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