NewSpace

NewSpace, alt.space, and entrepreneurial space are umbrella terms for a movement and philosophy often affiliated with, but not synonymous with, the private spaceflight industry.

Origin

The term alt.space was first used in the early 1980s to describe companies that were making serious efforts to reach outer space without cooperation with NASA, other governmental agencies, or their contractors. Near the end of the 1990s, a dramatic increase in companies engaging in this process led to the common usage of the phrase "new space companies" ; "NewSpace" and "entrepreneurial space" are now the most commonly used terms, though "alt.space" is still occasionally found.

Definition

NewSpace is defined by HobbySpace.com as covering "approaches to space development that differ significantly from that taken by NASA and the mainstream aerospace industry". Definitions of what exactly is and is not NewSpace vary but typically include several of the following criteria:

• Development of launch systems principally with private funding, with only secondary or no involvement with government spaceflight programs and contractors. Private companies that conduct aeronautical efforts, such as Boeing, are generally not considered part of NewSpace due to their heavy reliance on NASA development funding as part of their business model. NewSpace companies need not universally avoid NASA, often participating in projects such as Commercial Orbital Transportation Services, but tend to focus primarily on consumers in the private sector.

• Low cost approaches or budgeting plans. Due to the highly expensive nature of spaceflight and lack of government funding, many NewSpace companies consequently take a low-cost approach to constructing launch vehicles and other necessary components. NewSpace companies commonly participate in, or are created to participate in, projects such as the Ansari X Prize and the Google Lunar X Prize.

• Primary drive towards innovation. "A NewSpace company might use innovative new technologies that will lead to low cost, robust space systems. Or a company might simply combine currently available, "cheap-off-the-shelf" (COTS) technologies in an innovative manner that provides a new and highly capable system at lower costs."

• Incremental development that is profitable even at initial low-levels of space system complexity and capability. Many NewSpace development projects follow the "model of other technologies such as computer chips and LCD displays. Start with systems of limited capability but with markets that can provide a profit and thus pay for the development necessary to make the next step up in capability. Over time this can have a tremendous pay off as hardware improvements are compounded and markets expand."

• Aim to increase human presence in outer space. Many NewSpace companies, such as Bigelow Aerospace and XCOR Aerospace, have publicly stated goals to send civilian humans into outer space on a mass scale and/or at low end-user costs.

Current usage

The Space Frontier Foundation holds an annual 'NewSpace' conference to discuss NewSpace-related issues and publishes a 'NewSpace News' periodical. The 4Frontiers Corporation is planning to build a NewSpace Center in the Florida area to showcase the products of NewSpace.

Mojave, California has been described as "the Silicon Valley of NewSpace". Mojave is home to Scaled Composites and the Mojave Spaceport, the worlds first private space launch facility.

Some NewSpace Organizations

The following are companies and organizations generally regarded as both alt.space and successfully active (or previously successfully active).

Active Companies

• Armadillo Aerospace
• Bigelow Aerospace
• Blue Origin
• Copenhagen Suborbitals
• Masten Space Systems
• Orbital Outfitters
• Orbital Sciences Corporation
• Rocket Racing League
• Rocketplane Kistler
• Scaled Composites
• SpaceDev
• SpaceX
• T/Space
• UP Aerospace
• Virgin Galactic
• XCOR Aerospace
• Zero Gravity Corporation

Organizations

• National Space Society
• Space Access Society
• Space Frontier Foundation
• Space Tourism Society
• SpaceVidcast
• Students for the Exploration and Development of Space
• Yuri's Night

Events

• Ansari X-Prize
• Google Lunar X Prize
• X Prize Cup competition

Defunct

• Rotary Rocket

Regulation

Much of the NewSpace activity is now involved in government licensing activities and regulation development for proposed spaceflights, managed in the United States by the Federal Aviation Administration.

See also

• List of private spaceflight companies
• Private spaceflight
• Space Frontier Foundation
• X Prize Foundation

External links

• Office of the Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation.
• Future Space Markets.