Well, I am back. I promised a report about the 2007 International Symposium for Personal Spaceflight, and here it is.
I had intended to do something close to live-blogging, and provide daily updates. Well, clearly I need to work on that (more and better sleep, so I have energy, among other things). I'll list the sessions, give you any notes/thoughts, and provide links to other blogs that talk about them.
Day 1
I am going to skipp the welcome session, for 2 reasons. First, while I bought a note book especially for the purpose of taking notes, I forgot it, and had to scrounge for paper, which means I didn't take good notes. In addition, it was largely just an overview of everything, and if you read the blog, you can guess what got said. Still, the speakers and chairs, which were Pat Hynes, Robert Dickman, Clayton Mowry, Michael Martin, William Mattiace, Robert Simpson, and of course, my fav, Peter Diamandis (who, I met later, I finally learned the proper way to say his name - thank you Mr. Diamandis) were all good.
Major Plenary Session
The first speaker was Valin Thorn, who is the program manager for the Commericial Crew and Cargo Program at Nasa - this is also known as the Commerical Orbital Transportation services (basically, its COTS within Nasa, and CC&CP in the federal budget). Mr Thorn gave a good overview of the program, highlighting the fact that Nasa will cease to use the shuttle in 2010, and what will be needed to take stuff to and from the station. He also discussed Nasa's use of Space Act agreements, for both funded programs and unfunded programs. The key thing about these programs is that they are fixed price with required performance milestones. They received a total of 21 proposals from 20 different companies, and down-selected to 6, and finally awarded it to 2 companies (SpaceX and RpK). He also talked about how they have unfunded agreements with Spacedev, Tspace, SpaceHab, Planetspace, and Constellation Services International. He also talked about the termination of the RpK contract, and the new COTS competition, resulting from the RpK termination.
Elon Musk, of SpaceX was asked to talk about why he invested in space, and how his company is doing. Elon is something of a true believer in the necessity and long-term usability of space and space colonization. He talked about how he sees this development as big as life leaving the sea, and coming on land. He discussed the need for true reusability, and some of the difficulties faced.
The third speaker was John Herrington, the VP/Director of Flight Operations for Rocketplane Global. He provided a breakdown of the company structure (The main holding company is Rocketplane, and then there is Rocketplane global, that will fly the sub-orbital Rocketplane XP, and Rocketplane Kistler, which will fly the orbital K-1. He talked about how they've done some redesign on the XP (more on that tomorrow, when I talk about the X Prize Cup). He also talked about the difficulty in raising money - he cited 3 things from Nasa that hurt the investment climate - the signing of a contract with Russia to provide the same services that COTS is suppose to provide, the fact that Nasa won't agree to buy services during the phase 2, and doubt about the program expressed by Nasa officials during Congressional testimony.
Finally, Alex Tai (COO of Virgin Galactic) talked about their business. He made the point that, while the Virgin group is quite large and has financial resources available, when he wants to spend money, he has to show it as a business decision, or else it won't happened. He also touched on the point that there are a lot of people interested in this out there, and we need more than one business, so that it truly becomes an industry. One thing he noted during the Q&A sessions, SS2 is designed for 2 flights a day.
Here is a link to Clark Lindsey's report on it as well.
Progress in Vehicle Systems
This session was chaired by Thomas Burton, from New Mexico State University. It had someone from JAXA, EADS Atrium, SpaceDev, and ULA.
Hiroyuki Ogawa, from JAXA was the first to speak. He talked about their program that is working on building an RLV version of a sounding rocket (they call it the RVT), that is a VTVL vehicle. He talked about the 3 vehicles they have built so far, each one an incremental improvement, moving towards the goal of a full RLV vehicle that can reach the required altitude. The rockets they've built so far look similar to some of the stuff out of Masten Space Systems, but I don't think they were quite up to the scale of Armadillo.
Hugues Laporte-Weywada, who is the Senior VP from EADS Astrium, was number 2 to speak. For those of you who don't remember, EADS Astrium is the major Aerospace company that is looking at doing something similar to the Rocketplane XP. He provided an overview of the proposed spacecraft, and gave a history of the project. Apparently they started looking at this back in early 2006. They looked at a variety of options, VTVL, VTHL, HTHL, and finally selected the Horizontal take off and Horizontal Landing craft. They are currently in negotiations, and hope to start construction by 2008. He also showed a picture from some testing of the LOX-methane engine they plan to use for their vehicle.
Mark Sirangelo, the new CEO of SpaceDev was up next. He told a little about the company (now close to 200 people employed, 35 million in revenue, profitable & cash flow positive - focused on multiple projects, from propulsion, to satellites, to guidance - He commented on having over 2,000 pieces of hardware in space). He gave a great talk about the Dreamchaser, its history under the US as the HL-20, and the Soviet BOR-4 designs. Their version uses onboard propulsion. It will be used for sub-orbital and orbital purpose. It’s worth noting here I asked about whether they were working with Benson Space Company's sub-orbital design - both from his answer, and some other people's comments, Spacedev and BSC are really going their separate ways, and will be competitors on the Sub-orbital market, with Spacedev using the Dreamchaser, and BSC using their vehicle that they released earilier this year. They are planning on a variety of configurations, and have begun looking at a streched version. Using their unfunded COTS Space Act agreement, they have set forth a series of milestones. In a sub-orbital configuration, it will have a single common core hybrid booster, to provide thrust. For orbital operations, they've designed it to use the Atlas V, a collection of their common core hybrid boosters, and (ugh) Ares I. Its worth noting that their offices were abandon because of the fires in CA.
The final person to speak was George Sowers, VP for Advanced Programs, from ULA. ULA is the combined company that Boeing and Lockmart put together to launch the Atlas and the Delta rockets. He talked about their work with Bigelow, and other Newspace companies. He discussed them man-rating the Atlas V, and working with companies like SpaceDev, Spacehab, and CSI.
Here is Clark Lindsey's report as well.
Synergy Between Government and Personal Spaceflight
The first speaker for this session was Major Ryan Pendleton, from Air Force Space Command), who talked about ORS (Operationally Responsive Space). For those who don't know, ORS is basically trying to make the Space environment be able to respond to emerging threats on the battle field. The best example I can give is from the first Gulf War - That was the first US war where satellite imagery was really used. Commanders in the field loved it so much, they asked if more could be done, and were told the fastest a new satellite could be launched would take a minimum of a year. What people would like is to be able to be able to respond to a situation as it develops. ORS would allow that. Anyway, Major Pendelton gave a short overview of ORS.
Next up was Lt Col Paul Damphousse, from the National Security Space Office. He talked about SUSTAIN. This is a force projection program. The basic ideal would be to be able to put a squad of 13 Marines into any place in the world, within 2 hours. This was a cover story in a recent Propular Science (it might have been Mechanics, but pretty certain it was PopSci). The benefit of this would be force projection, and you wouldn't have to deal with negotiating for over flight allowances - over flight is inherent when in space. The vehicle would be quite a vehicle - stealthy, survivable, launch on demand, and doesn't need to be refueled. As the Lt Col said, it is a hard program. It has some definite technical challenges ahead for it, but it also requires funding. Still, something like this would definitely have its uses (maybe we could've gotten bin laden by now, although with Bush, I wouldn't hold my breath - note, this is me, not the Col speaking).
Dan Coughlin, from Nasa Ames Research Center, talked about some previous analogs, that apply to the manned spaceflight industry. Specifically, he talked about some similarities to the early auto industry, and related the Transcontinental Motor Train to Project Apollo. Here, I'll give you a chart he was kind enough to provide to me after the talk, that gives a really good comparison of the early auto industry, and the current space industry.
Mike Holguin, from United Launch Alliance (ULA), talked a little about investments. He also talked about various synergies ULA sees, including human rating Atlas.
Joseph Adams, from the Aerospace Corporation, talked about the quest for more affordable space launch. He showed a picture of a bunch of failed attempts at low costs, like X-33, NASP, and ALS. I seem to remember him commenting on hardware actually being built this time. Along those lines, he commented on development tended to focus on getting maximum payload to orbit, rather than cheaply. He was fairly enthusiastic of some sort of hybrid system - reusable first stage, expendable second stage.
The final person to speak was Jess Sponable, from the Air Force research Laboratory. He talked about his work on the DC-X. He expects to see a great diversity of spacecraft, much like we've seen a variety of aircraft. He talked about how the DC-X cost only 70 million, while it normally would've cost 10x that, using usual procurement process. He talked about how DC-X was designed to develop operations, not technology (keep this in mind as you read my diaries always). Currently the ARFL is working on something called the Future Responsive Access to Space Technology, or FAST. He talked about various ground experiment options, and future options, and also commented on an upcoming meeting, next year.
Clark Lindsey's report on it.
Developing Space Tourism and interviews with Space tourists
This was originally planned as 2 sessions, but they made it into 1 large session.
It included 3 people who have been to space (Michael Lopez-Alegria, 4 NASA missions, Dan Barry, 3 NASA missions, and Anousheh Ansari, who went up via Space Adventures), 2 people who are signed up to go into space (Reda Anderson aboard Rocketplane XP, and Craig Willan abourd SS2), and 1 person who was signed up, but got bumped, due to Lance Bass and Columbia (Lori Garver aka astro-mom).
I've only got a few comments here, as most talked about what the space experince was for them, or what they expected it to be, and as cool as that is, it doesn't actually get us to space.
Ansari - She expects the Price to come down for sub-orbital to be between $20,000-$30,000 in a few years.
Reda - she sees three R's for spaceflight - risk, reward, and responsibilty (that exists before, during and after the flight).
Michael, to symbolically become part of NewSpace, removed his tie (the irony being more and more NewSpace people are in fact showing up in suits - oh well, I know what he ment)
Craig Wilson also expects the price to come down, but is more than willing to be an early adaptor.
Dan Barry, told a great story about a pilot, on his first mission to space. The shuttle had just arrived in orbit, and while they couldn't yet un-strap, the crewmembers that didn't have responsiblities were having a good time, watching their arms float. Well, this pilot, he had work to do before they could un-strap. However, someone kept putting their hand in his way. Finally, he got so annoyed, he slapped said person's hand out of the way, only to find out that it was his hand.
Lori Garver - she tried to go to ISS using sponsorships. They got about halfway there, and then Lance Bass became a competitor for the seat. It’s worth noting that Lori has advised the Clinton campaign about space, at least somewhat - I am not certain exactly how/what she is employed, but I know she is a Clinton supporter.
Anyway, those are the things I felt really worth noting, but feel free to read Clark Lindsey's account here and here, to learn what it would be like to go into space.
Marketing the "NewSpace" Business
The final person for the day to speak was John Cordova, who works for Coca-Cola. He was here to talk about marketing NewSpace. While he has no real relation directly to space, he definitely saw similarities to some of his work, when he worked in sports, trying to find sponsors (he was one of the people who instituted home plate signs, if you are a baseball fan). He talked about the launch of Vault, and related both experience to launching the new industry, of private spaceflight.
Here's Clark's report on it.
Jeff Foust, of multiple websites, provided a good overview of the first day, at Personal Spaceflight.
Day 2
Spaceport America 1st Step
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The program overview for this session is largely about what is happening within each aspect of the development. I missed part of the discussion, but for the things I missed, you can check the links at the bottom
Kelly O'Donnel, who is a Deputy Secretary for the Economic Development State of New Mexico, gave a good overview, including the history of spaceport development. He mentioned that their search for a new Executive director is still ongoing, but he hopes to have one by the end of the year. He also discussed funding (specifically mentioned how we are still waiting for the other two counties to pass the tax increase as well), and one thing I found interesting was that interest in a NM spaceport began in the 1990s. He also said that operation date is currently 2010.
The next speaker was Wayne Savage, of DMJM Aviation, talked a lot about the nuts and bolts of design and construction of the Spaceport. He talked about the recently released designs from Foster + Partners. I wasn't there for that, unfortunately (because I am interested in their plans to prevent environmental damage), however, during the Q&A session at the end, he said that they plan on having a LEED rating of silver, and hopefully even gold.
The third person to speak was Alex Tai, the COO of Virgin Galactic. Alex talked about what it will be like to experience flight on SS2. He provided us with an overview of SS2, including pictures and the like. He discussed the training planned and mentioned protecting against sensory overload. He also talked about G-Training, with NaStar providing the training (and mentioned that some grannys are better than some fighter pilots - no names mentioned). They are also partnering with Zero-G, for weightless training. They have various protocols being planned, both for safety and enjoyment. Finally, (after getting subtle hints from the moderator that his time was up) he mentioned that they had 31 million dollars in sales already.
Patricia Grace Smith, the Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation (which is a part of the FAA), talked about the regulations. She talked about how there was a lot of activity, although some of it was behind schedule, which tends to give the naysayers ammunition. However, she pointed out that there are other major projects, like the Airbus A380 and the Boeing 787, both of which are behind schedule, and yet people aren't questioning those projects happening.
The final speaker was Rebacca Armstrong, a student intern (majoring in physics) for the New Meixco Spaceport, talked about her experience. Her major task was writing a policy & procedures book. While she didn't use her physics knowledge, it really helped her develop her research, and planning skills. She commented on the amount of paperwork involved, and gave herself some nice (but as she admitted shameless) plugs, for future jobs/internships. BTW, Rebecca - never fear the shameless self-plug - it can get you quite a bit. Good luck.
Here's Clark Lindsey post on this track
Building the Spaceport Network
This session was chaired by Burton Lee.
Ollie Norberg, Chairman of Spaceport Sweden, was the first to speak. Currently, they launch sounding rockets, out of Kiruna, Sweden. They want to be able to move it beyond that, and into the sub-orbital tourism market. The spaceport is actually a conglomeration of 4 companies, including the company that makes/operates the icehotel. Because of their work with sounding rockets, they have some pre-existing infrastructure and regulatory experience that lends itself to sub-orbital tourism (including experience with ITAR). Also, because of their geographical location, they have some excellent sites that lend itself to the tourism market. They currently have an agreement with Virgin Galactic, and hope to be operating by 2011-2012.
Jacques Breton, Vice President of Advanced Studies and Business Development at Arianespace, talked next. Currently, the spaceport at Kourou, French Guiana has 3 launch pads, - 1 pad that is operating and flying Ariane V, and 2 other pads under construction, 1 for the Soyuz rocket, and another for the Vega rocket. There are 1,200 people employed. There is a variety of companies involved in the operations, and he cited a number of figures (propellant used, launches completed, etc). The primary vehicles launched there are commercial satellites, and a few military and scientific satellites. He commented about looking forward to the space tourism market.
Steve Kohler, President of SpaceFlorida, was the third to talk. He discussed their strategic business plan. He talked about the hard assets they have, such as SLC-46 Mobile Access structure, an RLV hanger, and he noted LC-40, where Falcon 9 will be launched. He even talked about the reuse of structures those they no longer needed (he talked about a major chemical tank as one example).
The final speaker was Billie Reed, the Executive Director of the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority. He talked about their recent successful launch of a Minotaur rocket, as well as the history of the facility. Currently, they are looking at growing beyond their sounding rockets, and small to medium rockets, into the realm of launching larger vehicles, including COTS, and also the sub-orbital tourism market. He talked about the difficulty of financing, real estate encroachment, and other issues. He spent some time discussing the Spaceflight Liability Immunity Act.
One particular question that I was particular curious about was VTVL vehicles - I am curious about any plans/infrastructure/regulations that are being looked at for VTVL, since this is something of a brand new category of vehicle. All of them have been looking at it, although the Kourou people haven't done much, in general, due to the fact that they haven't really looked at the tourism market.
As always, you can read about Clark's coverage as well.
Impact of Spaceports on Communities
I wanted to hear this track, but I also needed to talk to someone, and so I missed most of this track. However, you can of course read Clark Lindsey's excellent coverage.
Staying Alive in a Growing Market
Chuck Lauer, Vice President of Business Development at Rocketplane (not certain if its RpK or RpG), was the first to speak at this session. He gave a history of both parts of the company, commenting that what started the 90s rush towards vehicle development was the telecom companies were going to launch a lot of satellites. Both Kistler and Rocketplane were pursuing that market. When this market fell through the floor, so did a number of companies. However, with Dennis Tito's flight, and the winning of the X Prize, this opened the way for tourism to be discussed. He also talked about Rocketplane winning the "O Prize" - a tax break that a number of companies attempted to get. They turned in all of their documents, and won it with only 15 minutes before the prize ended.
Noah McMahon, from Zero-G, was the second to talk. Currently, they have over 3,000 customers, and have had people charter whole flights (like Donald Trump's the Apprentice). They also enjoy doing the educational market, with the Teachers in Space Program, and have been very successful partnering with the Sharper Image catalogue. And he talked a fair amount about the flight of Stephen Hawking.
Jerry Larson, President of UP aerospace, was the next to talk. They currently have a 2 hour turnaround, and launched with a 3 person crew. They do low-cost sub-orbital missions using the SpaceLoft XL, something akin to a sounding rocket. They've designed it so that the payloads can be modularized, so that 1 flight will have multiple payloads. They showed a video of the launch, and noted that they can put the vehicle together in less than a day.
The final speaker was Rich Pournelle, of XCOR Aerospace. Rich talked about how this time its real. His first point was, whatever you do, have a plan. He discussed XCOR's plans - going with fixed price vs cost plus (XCOR prefers fixed price), retaining Intellectual Property, and know how far you are willing to deviate from your long term plan, to get a short term contract (XCOR will only pursue a contract if they plan on/want to develop the hardware in the first place). He noted that it’s very important to work with prime-contractors, and earned media provides the biggest bang (which is why XCOR has remained somewhat under the radar). He also talked about the difficulty trying to find Angel investors (these aren't people you cold call), and stressed the point that they might not know about the industry.
Go here to see Clark's coverage of it.
For the final two sessions, I am largely going to turn it over to Clark, since they were a Q&A session, and he did a better job taking notes (While I heard most of the questions, I didn't write them down fast enough)
Clark's coverage of the When all you need is cash session.
Clark's coverage of the Q&A with the astronauts session.
Here is Jeff Foust's report for the 2nd day.
Alan Boyle also did a nice writeup about it at MSNBC.
My final thoughts - it was a really great symposium, and I made some good contacts (which reminds me, I need to email a few people). I definitely learned quite a bit, and I hope you guys learn something from my posts. If you have an interest, come next year - it was well worth it.
Tomorrow night (or possibly Friday, depends on time), I will talk about what I saw at X Prize Cup.