When we, Space Renaissance members, spoke of the many dangers humanity was facing on the planet, which we felt could only be addressed by having humanity move out into space, I doubt we imagined we would be facing two of these dangers in a few years. Yet at this moment, most of us are in quarantine and out of work.

Governments around the world and their people are trying to deal with a health and economic crisis with no precedent, and some countries are even trying to ignore the danger to see if it simply goes away on its own. But our old world strategies have been useless to face the crisis, and in a few months the world’s most powerful leaders imposed controls, quarantines and other strategies to limit harm while technology caught up to the pandemic. Continue reading →

The 69^th Congress of the International Astronautical Federation took place in the halls of the Bremen exhibition center from 1 to 5 October.

Great success both for the public and for the speakers, despite the enrollment fees definitely out of budget for many: more than 6300 registered participants, of which almost 50% very young, more than 2000 papers presented in the various symposia. The title of the Congress was very interesting: “Involving everyone”. This gave the impression that there was plenty of space at the Congress for the themes of civil development in space. The attention to the impetuous development of the NewSpace sector is now felt everywhere, and the most important global space congress could not avoid being impacted. After all, it is thanks to the growth of the NewSpace sector if the IAF Congress has recorded this remarkable success. But which were the predominant themes of the Congress? Has the promise announced in the title been kept? In part, yes, but a lot of work remains to be done. Continue reading →