James C. Bennett writes:

April 12th, was the 50th anniversary of the first human flight into space, that of the Russian Yuri Gagarin.  At the time, it was viewed entirely through the lens of the Cold War and its politics — as a propaganda tool by the Soviet regime, on their side — a proof of the glory of the Communist regime.  In the west, it was viewed as a symbol of Nikita Krushchev’s recent threat — “We will bury you.”   Today, the symbols of the Soviet era are found only in museums, and the same Soyuz launch vehicles now carry the double-headed eagle of the Russian Federation.  Gagarin himself is long dead, a victim of a mundane accident.  A new space race, driven not by politics but by the urge for exploration and industry pits not nation against nation, but multinational teams from across the globe in peaceful commercial competition.  In the long run Gagarin will be remembered not as the cog in the Soviet state machine that he was during his lifetime, but as the precursor of the expansion of humanity off the planet of our birth.

Meanwhile, the emergence of a new suborbital provider intending to operate from the Netherlands demonstrates that the new space race is heating up Europe as well as America.  Recently the prestigious Southwest Research Institute, one of America’s premier space research organizations, startled the research world by reserving suborbital flights on both the American form XCOR Aerospace and the Anglo-American firm Virgin Galactic for scientific research, demonstrating that the term “space tourism” may become an inadequate description of human commercial suborbital flight.  Meanwhile, suborbital operators continue to await further clarification of the regulatory environment from authorities at both the national and European Union levels, which may determine the viability of EU member states as operational locations.  These new developments demonstrate that the stakes — jobs and stimulation of business and research —  in this matter are increasing as time goes by.

News just published by Aviation Week that Astrium is teaming up with Singapore to build a suborbital demonstrator and hopes to ultimately have a fleet of spaceplanes stationed there speaks volumes about not just the audacity inherent in New Space, but the radical internationalisation and increasingly dynamic role of the private sector.

As the innovation accelerates and the costs fall, one can expect to see a lot more synergies involving – wealthy semi-microstates, billionaires, cash-poor state owned space agencies and dynamic private space entrepreneurs from all over the globe.

SPACE: Britain’s New Frontier

Download here.

Britain faces an historic opportunity to be a major player in space and the government must rise to the challenge.

Policy Recommendations:

1. The UK should broaden its cooperative perspective beyond Europe – 75% of funds are currently allocated to the European Space Agency.

2. The new UKSA must seek to take advantage of NASA’s international cooperative programmes which the UK has failed to do in the past

3. The Commonwealth States – Australia, Canada and India – all have areas of space expertise which the UK could successfully cooperate on.

4. Therefore the UK should aim to cooperate with Canada which has expertise in radar imaging satellites

5. And with Australia which has extensive launch ranges

6. As well as with India which has across the board capabilities including launch vehicles, satellites and now interplanetary probes

7. The UKSA should send key personnel to Ottawa for an extended stay at the Canadian Space Agency to study what a small-to-medium scale agency can accomplish

8. The UK should explore collaboration with Canada and Australia on dual-use (civil and military) space technologies and systems like communications and earth observations satellites to leverage UK defence investments in space and the high level of trust of the USA on technology-export issues

9. The UK should seek to learn and copy from the Isle of Man’s favourable operating environment for space commerce

10. The UK should seek to develop a civil regulatory framework for spaceflight and space activity that attracts capital from all round the world

11. The UK should seek to actively earn from the USA’s deep experience of licensing launch sites and spaceports with a view to the future licensing of sites like Lossiemouth in Scotland

“You don’t need Astronauts to have a successful space programme. The New Space environment now offers British entrepreneurs, financiers and scientists to take a seat at the main table on their own terms”.Bennett also says that the UK is failing to exploit its connections with the USA and the Commonwealth to advance its own space programme;

““Britain has networks of close ties, experiences, and mutual trust not just in one direction, but in three: Europe, the USA, and the Commonwealth. It should seek to maintain its existing productive ties with Europe, exploit the ease of business between the US and Britain to develop New Space entrepreneurship, and enhance its cooperation with the often-underestimated capabilities of Canada, Australia, and India”.