IAC2009 Plenary 4

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IAC2009:

Programme

IAC2009 Plenary 3
Space and the economic crisis

Plenary
Civilian Access to Space - Spaceflight for Mankind
Tuesday 13 October 2009

IAC2009 Plenary 5
Space Systems to observe and understand Climate Change

Plenary Four
Civilian Access to Space - Spaceflight for Mankind

This plenary session included an informative discussion on the emerging industry that will transport humans and cargo, hopefully providing low cost, reliable access to space for multiple purposes including scientific and engineering investigation, satellite delivery, commercial activity and pleasure, or what is being referred to as space tourism.

	Chair Dr Pat Hynes Director, New Mexico Space Grant Consortium and NASA EPSCoR, United States		Panellist Dr George Nield Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, United States
	Panellist Mr Will Whitehorn President, Virgin Galactic, United States		Panellist Mark Sirangelo Executive VP Sierra Nevada Corporation & Chairman SNC Space Systems United States

At the fourth plenary session of IAC 2009, more than 200 audience members listened to speakers discussing the next steps of space commercialisation, a private access to space for human and cargo.

Welcoming the present audience in Korean, Dr. Hynes stated that the purpose of the session was to examine the global implications of civilian space, and how an increased access to space would benefit the mankind.

After a short video of the history and current status of Virgin Galactic and Spaceship One and Two, Mr Whitehorn addressed the importance of the private access to space and economics of space. He explained more about the spaceship, a vehicle that can take passengers to a suborbital flight for less than 200,000 dollars. He also talked about the other markets approached by Virgin Galactic, such as small satellites, space science and microgravity experiments. With the start of the flight tests for the fully reusable unique vehicle, Spaceship Two, he stated that the Virgin Galactic would reach in space in two year’s time. The company would focus on its space science missions with humans in tandem with this.

The next speaker, Marc Sirangela, Executive VP Sierra Nevada, focused on the specific propulsion systems designed for private access to space. He addressed their collaborations and partnership not only with industry, such as Virgin Galactic, but also with the government.

He later talked about the multi mission vehicles for carrying cargo and humans to space. Mr Sirangela addressed the assembly line satellite manufacturing and more frequent launches at Sierra Nevada.

George Nield, the Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation at FAA, was the last speaker of the fourth plenary session. He started by reminding the anniversary of the Chuck Yeager flight to break the sound barrier at 1947. Mentioning the retirement of the Space Shuttle, he emphasized on the new era of space transportation and the increased number of launches in near future.

Will Whitehorn, in an answer to the audience questions, focus on identifying the demands of the ordinary users and scientists before developing a new vehicle. Space tourism is an interesting part of the business. He added that the compatibility of the regulatory environment, demands of tourists and scientists, which is a key factor in success of Virgin Galactic, is not found all over the world.

Other topics that were discussed in the plenary session included the effect of financial crisis on the companies presented by the speakers, the role of governmental institution in promoting industry, identifying the pathway for the vision of private access to space, international outreach and using the environmentally friendly technologies.

Reported by Mahsa Taheran