Monthly Archives: January 2022

Space is a new and exciting industry with potential both now and in the future. According to a report by Morgan Stanley, the space industry could grow from $400 billion to more than $1 trillion by 2040, which doesn't even factor in new markets like space tourism. How do investors capture this upside? Several companies are beginning to build their contributions to this new market.

Investors need to understand that such a young industry carries many risks, but these five companies can generate significant returns if things work out well over the long term.

Image source: Getty Images.

Sometimes it's hard to believe, but the day is coming when people can tour space. Virgin Galactic Holdings (NYSE:SPCE) is helping build the space tourism industry. Its spacecraft is designed for suborbital flights, leaving the Earth's atmosphere but not entering orbit. These flights produce a short duration of weightlessness before coming back down.

The company sells tickets for future flights at $454,000 per seat but has more test flights to complete before beginning customer flights. The company's most recent test was a successful flight in July 2021, when founder Richard Branson joined the ship's crew. The long-term potential for Virgin Galactic is a fleet expansion and mastery of the technology that can make the price to fly affordable for more customers, bringing space tourism into the mainstream. The stock's small $2.6 billion market cap leaves a lot of room for upside if Virgin Galactic is successful.

If there is a space industry, how will we process the payments that flow back and forth? Payment processing company Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) could help answer that question. Hotels, entertainment businesses, and restaurants across the country use Shift4's platform.

In its report, Morgan Stanley believes that satellite broadband, satellite-delivered internet, could contribute between 50%-70% of the space industry's projected growth. Elon Musk's SpaceX has invested heavily to build Starlink, its upcoming broadband business. Shift4 has partnered with SpaceX to support it with its payment services. Shift4's management estimates this addressable market as being worth between $100 billion and $500 billion globally. Shift4's satellite broadband exposure andgrowing payments business could fuel growth over the years ahead.

Space is a complex industry, and companies like the industrial technology business Trimble (NASDAQ:TRMB) can advance the development of space with its software solutions that help its customers use data information to run their operations. For example, it can use satellite data to help customers use their physical assets most effectively. Its primary businesses concentrate on applications like buildings and infrastructure, geospatial data, commodities and utilities, and transportation.

For instance, the company's technology helps farmers maximize their crop harvest. Trimble's ability to simplify parts of these complex industries and applicationscould make it a natural fit for the space industry as it grows over time. The immaturity of space could make Trimble a good stock for broad exposure, and it happens to be the top holding in ARK's space-focused ARK Space Exploration & Innovation ETF.

Aerospace and defense company Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) is a natural fit in the space industry, thanks to its vast experience in rockets and propulsion gained from making various weapons systems and vehicles for the U.S. military. It has a space business segment -- including satellites, space transportation, and defense systems -- that accounted for almost a fifth of total revenue in 2020.

President Donald Trump created the Space Force in late 2019, a new division of the U.S. military. Suppose space eventually becomes a new arena for geopolitical tension. In that case, Lockheed Martin's existing relationships and experience in the space industry could help its space segment grow as a part of the company's overall business.

Satellites are gaining more use as technology advances, helping us transmit information between space and Earth at faster speeds. BlackSky Technology (NYSE:BKSY) is a geospatial-data company that's building a network of satellites to perform rapid surveillance of the planet's landscape through its software-as-a-service platform. It can generate and transmit imagery in approximately 90 minutes; its customers include U.S. intelligence agencies and commercial customers in commodities and insurance.

It's a young company competing against other satellite companies in the market. Still, BlackSky's $2.5 billion business pipeline gives the company predictable revenue over the next few years. Investors will want to keep an eye on execution to see that backlogged business converts to billed revenue, and that BlackSky successfully expands its satellite fleet over time. Its market cap is just $370 million, so the upside is sizable if things work out.

This article represents the opinion of the writer, who may disagree with the official recommendation position of a Motley Fool premium advisory service. Were motley! Questioning an investing thesis -- even one of our own -- helps us all think critically about investing and make decisions that help us become smarter, happier, and richer.

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5 Explosive Space Stocks to Buy in 2022 and Beyond - Motley Fool

Everyone is always saying that we should get out of our comfort zones, but what does that actually mean? For me, it means to explore the unknown and its in the unknown that we can really grow and learn.

Through exploration of the unknown, humanity has been able to develop opportunities for success in every aspect of our society.

The subjects that students learn in science class today are derived from the exploration of the unknown. Without the great scientists and the research theyve committed themselves to, we would still be stuck in a state of perpetual stagnation.

For example, one of historys greatest scientists, first astronomers and initiator of our current space exploration programs was Galileo Galilei. Through careful planning and measurements along with a great deal of imagination, Galileo was able to create and perfect the telescope, a tool which has benefited us in space exploration for centuries.

Later he influenced many other leading scientists, such as Kepler, Newton, and our current NASA program (which has named a satellite after him), to continue his studies of the unknown universe. By taking the initiative and stepping into the investigation of the unknown, Galileo and many other noteworthy scientists were able to make a name for themselves and begin a new age of exploration, and human science will forever be in their debt.

However, the exploration of the unknown isnt limited to just academic values and knowledge. Revolutionists in both art and music have created entire eras of art, each being significantly different than the one before.

According to the National Gallery of Art, Pablo Picasso, founder of the art style Cubism, is a prime example of someone who spent their career changing what humanity knows of art. Although he was a conventional artist at the beginning of his career, his shift into what is now his most well known style of art is what made him influential.

Despite the fact that his art caused much controversy due to its unconventional depictions of what a normal painting should look like, by venturing into a new territory of art and exploring every corner of it, he was able to shape the concept of modern art.

An example of a pioneer in music is the well-known musician Louis Armstrong, who is credited with being one of the first and most prominent jazz musicians. As reported by the Louis Armstrong House, Armstrong started off rough with a difficult childhood, but he went on to become the first major jazz soloist and one of the most influential musicians of the twentieth century by producing a distinctly different style of trumpeting and incorporating a more formal yet loose style of swinging jazz that revolutionized the genre.

By breaking away from the constraints of normality, these artists and composers were able to bring about lasting changes and developments in the industry.

Not only can exploring the unknown benefit society as a whole, but it can also benefit one personally. When I was seven, I had taken an interest in rock climbing. On my eighth birthday, I asked my parents to hold my party at a local climbing gym. It would be my first time ever trying rock climbing.

Upon entering the facility with my friends, many of them decided that the feat was too scary for them. Being an adventurous third grader, I was determined to scale my first wall right then and there. However, while waiting in line for my turn, I began to get cold feet.

What if the rope snaps? What if I embarrass myself while trying to be cool?

Thoughts of doubt plagued my mind and soon it was my turn to start the climb. I was about to bail out on my chance when I realized that doubting myself into not partaking in an interest of mine was something that I was going to regret for years to come.

I hyped myself up for the climb and slowly started to scale the wall. About a quarter of the way through, I realized that I really enjoyed the experience and I started to climb faster. When I reached the top, I felt a certain sense of accomplishment that I wouldnt have felt if I had bailed out from the start.

To top my already proud self, the spotter who was handling the pulley gear told me that my climb was one of the best that shed ever seen from a junior and that I should consider continuing the sport.

From this experience, I learned that, although stepping out of my comfort zone and venturing out into the unknown was frightening, without the experience, I might have never found an interest that I was truly passionate about and even had a talent in.

The exploration of the unknown has provided the opportunity for the world to improve and augment itself in science, art, and beyond. Personally, it has definitely broadened my world and opened the doors to new experiences and growth.

What does the unknown have to offer you?

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Venture into the unknown - Los Angeles Times

ABSTRACT breaks down mind-bending scientific research, future tech, new discoveries, and major breakthroughs.

The history of space exploration has never been dull, but we happen to be living through an especially eventful era of dazzling discoveries, ambitious missions, and emerging challenges.

To get a sense of how people feel about this multifaceted spacescape, Motherboard is exclusively publishing the results of a wide-ranging poll of the American public, conducted by a team at the Outer Space Institute, a transdisciplinary global network of space experts, and the Angus Reid Forum USA, an online public opinion community.

The poll, which is available to view in full at this link, queried more than 1,500 respondents about topics such as aliens, orbital debris, the United States Space Force, and human missions to the Moon and Mars. The team also invited participants to provide feedback, in their own words, on the poll, with verbatim responses that ranged in tone from wistful to conspiratorial to zany (one person, for instance, offered this simple yet incisive comment: Uranus).

The poll was conducted through an online opinion panel and was designed to be as statistically representative of the American public as possible in terms of demographics, geography, and even political affiliation. The end results offer an intriguing snapshot of public attitudes about space from the most influential spacefaring nation on Earth.

U.S. public opinion really matters in space because the United States really matters in space, said Michael Byers, a professor and Canada Research Chair in global politics and international law at the University of British Columbia (UBC), in a call with team members Aaron Boley, an associate professor and Canada Research Chair in planetary astronomy at UBC, and Gregor Sharp, senior manager of panel research and outreach at the Angus Reid Forum. (Byers and Boley also serve as co-directors of the Outer Space Institute).

As for why Canadian researchers conducted the poll, its because what [U.S. decision-makers] decide matters for everyone, added Byers.

On top of that, it's just super-interesting research that hasn't been done before, noted Sharp.

To that point, the poll revealed overwhelming consensus on a few issues. A whopping 81 percent of participants agreed that outer space should belong to everyoneno one country should be able to claim control over it, with 49 percent indicating they strongly agreed with that statement. The value of fundamental science, such as astronomy, was likewise broadly acknowledged, with 72 percent of respondents agreeing that it is important and deserves government funding (30 percent strongly agreed).

The participants also expressed high levels of optimism about the existence of alien life, as well as the odds that humans will one day encounter it. Seventy-one percent agreed it is likely that there is other intelligent life beyond Earth in our galaxy, the Milky Way, with 40 percent strongly agreeing with that statement.

Meanwhile, 75 percent said it is likely that we will detect microorganisms beyond Earth in our solar system (49 percent said very likely) while 77 percent said it is likely that we will detect microorganisms elsewhere in our galaxy (52 percent said very likely).

The broad recognition of the possibility of life in the solar system has implications for how we conduct space exploration, said Boley, who noted that it also underscores the need for planetary protection measures designed to prevent cross-contamination between Earth and other worlds.

The wide public recognition that this is something that is a real possibility is, I think, an important component of this poll, Boley added.

Byers said that some of the results were extremely helpful to the Outer Space Institutes advocacy efforts, which include a push to ban anti-satellite (ASAT) tests. These tests destroy satellites and create swarms of orbital debris, which is outer space junk made up of defunct or broken spacecraft parts.

The poll revealed strong opposition to ASAT tests and high levels of concern about orbital debris. Seventy-two percent agreed that there should be an international ban on conducting tests that create orbital debris, and 69 percent agreed that countries that create more orbital debris should be sanctioned.

These results show that the U.S. government would have public support to add its weight to the push for a test ban treaty, Byers said.

The poll also showed that the American public is wary of some commercial activities in space, and generally has nuanced opinions about the private space sector. Sixty-nine percent said there should be limits on the number of satellites that companies can launch, indicating awareness about megaconstellations, such as SpaceXs Starlink, that could add tens of thousands of satellites to orbit this decade. In addition, 54 percent of respondents said that companies should not be able to profit from resources extracted off of the planet, with 29 percent saying they should be able to profit and 17 percent saying they were unsure about this issue.

For the most part, the poll did not show a huge difference in opinion according to political affiliation. However, Americas notoriously polarized politics did manage to infect one topic: the United States Space Force.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, participants who supported Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election were far more likely to have favorable views of this military agency, which was previously known as U.S. Air Force Space Command before Trump rebranded it. Seventy percent of those who voted for Trump in the last election agreed that the Space Force is essential for protecting American interests in outer space, compared to 33 percent of respondents who voted for Biden in 2020, and 41 percent of people who did not vote in the 2020 election.

There were other revealing nuggets lodged in the demographic details of the responses. Women were more likely than men to say they were unsure of their opinion on the presented issues, which is a gender-based trend that turns up in polls on many subjects. Sharp also pointed out that African-Americans were generally more skeptical of extravagant space missions, which may reflect, in part, the recognition of longstanding institutional racism within spaceflight, perhaps typified by the 1970 song Whitey on the Moon by Gil Scott-Heron.

Some respondents provided written feedback to the poll in a section the team called Verbatims. Sharp warned that these comments should not be viewed as representative of the American public, because they express the viewpoints of only a few individuals.

To the extent that a verbatim reflects data that we polled on, sometimes it's just a very good way to illustrate, in somebody else's words, how they think about a question that we may have abstracted or may have framed slightly differently, Sharp explained. There's the potential to link up verbatims to the overall results, but of course, proceed with caution because the way people infer or interpret things does vary.

Indeed, an interesting subset of responses referenced conspiracy theories and misinformation, though its difficult to parse whether those comments are genuine beliefs or playful trolls, according to the teamfollow-ups would be required to get a better sense of the real intent. Here are a few of those responses, some of which are edited for brevity but otherwise unaltered:

Did we really go to the Moon?

I believe its all a lie . Conspiracy theory 101

NASA is the biggest frauds besides the government. We havent been to the moon, outer space or mars. The earth is flat, not a globe. The earth being round is a massive deception that upon research is uncovered.

I just hope we really are going in outer space and the moon.Gov sure is wating alot of money in space.

I still find it strange that NASA kinda pretty much disappeared and then came back. Like what is really going on?

I think governments should be more truthful about all of it, like what's going on out there.

Was there actually a moon landing?

Humans destroy everything. We cant figure out to leave well enough alone. Lets fix Earth (and I dont even believe in the constructs of Global Warming )

China just wants to get us to spend billions....they haven't even been to the Moon......neither have we.....but I would think that anyone wishing to go to Mars would want to go to the Moon first.

Beyond mentions of conspiracies, the comments expose a kaleidoscopic array of interests and opinions about space. For instance, a significant chunk expressed concern that funding for space exploration would be better spent on social or environmental issues on Earth, while others were extremely enthusiastic about exploring outer space. Here are a few snippets of both perspectives.

I love space, space exploration, the idea of intelligent life-- I love all of it but it amounts to absolutely nothing when we have some pretty catastrophic issues here that could be solved with that money (military budgets, too!)

We should be looking for other habitable planets like earth and trying to figure out how to travel quickly, like warp drive, instead of wasting so much time on Mars that is not habitable.

Don't colonize Mars. Focus on this planet first. So many more people will suffer needlessly if we just take our societal fuck-ups to another planet, especially since so many are already suffering here. We cannot handle it.

There is no compelling reason to funnel billions of dollars into exploring space in any capacity when our planet will become unlivable within a few generations. Doing so is irresponsible and disgusting. Countries, companies, and individuals with wealth should spend their resources helping people and the earth, not getting into pissing wars over space.

The emergence of private space companies, such as SpaceX and Blue Origin, also generated a range of reactions. Some respondents welcomed the dawn of commercial spaceflight, while others voiced negative opinions of space sector billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. Here are some of those comments:

Billionaires are evil and have already destroyed this planet so they're looking for another to destroy, figures

I think the new private companies are doing much better than governments did to promote space exploration

I think we should spend our tax $$$ on people here on earth and stop wasting it on space projects. Let Elon Musk spend his billions on space projects if he wants to.

Limits on billionaire vanity project rocket launches- Jeff bezos should be taxed for every recreational rocket trip- perhaps to the scale of their greenhouse gas emissions.

Honestly I think if individual people are wealthy enough to go to space on their own, then however much money they spend getting there they should also have to donate to climate issues.

I hate the fact that we are now exploiting celebrities to go into space. They don't belong there. Leave space travel to the seasoned astronauts.

Another fascinating subsection of participants approached space issues through the lens of their religious beliefs:

We should be exploring Earth's waters instead of wasting so much time , money and energy on chasing outer space fantasies. If God wanted us to have other worldly neighbors he would have created them and maybe he already has!?

My biblical beliefs are that it All belongs to God, if we are to represent Him well, there needs to be a balance of protecting the USA and meeting the needs of the whole working class of earthly humans. Not just the rich assholes.

Naturally, many participants also offered their thoughts on UFOs and whether humans have already been contacted by alien life:

I've seen UFO's/UAP's 4 times in my life that I know no man had anything to do with creating or piloting. So I think more pointed questions as to one's personal experiences of whether or not we've ever witnessed a UFO/UAP would be interesting for you to know about us.

I believe that there are outer space beings. Mainly Aliens. I have seen UFO's in different areas of America.

Speaking of aliens, there was an interesting split in the comments between people who viewed extraterrestrial contact in a positive light and those that expressed concerns about the potential dangers of such an encounter:

We are not alone. We should have a global plan

Alien relations? We should decide as a planet how we interact with potentially intelligent alien life.

I think it is highly likely that we will find other intelligent life other than microorganisms out in our solar system! It is to vast and to large for us to be the only ones

If there is a race advanced enough to visit earth as often as we presume, how can we be foolish enough to think we could fight them in a battle.

Where are the smart aliens that can help us cure cancer and extend human life.

Some of the responses absolutely demand further clarification. One person suggested that people might be able to hear aliens when they smoke cannabis. Another dared to address the question on everyones mind: What about sex in zero gravity ??? Is getting pregnant there even possible ??? A participant also came up with a creative, if bittersweet, idea to immortalize humanitys existence: We should carve a carbon/carbon-dioxide molecule diagram into the moon in case humans die off because of climate change.

My personal favorite is a bit inscrutable, but I read it as a succinct suggestion: more planets. Agreed.

Overall, the combination of the poll and the verbatim responses suggest that plenty of Americans are curious about all facets of space explorationincluding completely unexpected onesand that many have strong opinions about how it should be conducted now, and in the future.

It was very pleasing to see the relatively high level of understanding of space issues, said Byers. People are plugged in.

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Scientists Surveyed People About Space. The Comments Are Out Of This World - VICE

Frank De Winne joined the European Space Agencys Astronaut Corps in January 2000 and made his first spaceflight to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2002 in support of the Odissea mission. He served as a flight engineer and conducted 23 experiments in life and physical sciences, some using Europes Microgravity Science Glovebox. As part of Expedition 21, in 2009, Frank became the first European commander of the ISS. One of his tasks was to operate the Stations robotic arm to dock Japans first H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV). After his mission, he chaired the technical committee of the second EU-ESA Space Exploration Conference in Brussels in 2010. Frank became Head of ESAs European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany in August 2012. Since 2017, he has been in charge of Space Station operations at ESA, and in 2020 became ESAs ISS Programme Manager. Kirill Pletner, Editor-in-Chief of ROOMs sister publication Aerospace Sphere Journal, caught up with Frank De Winne to obtain his perspective on human space exploration, from priority areas in ESAs work to a personal view on current space trends.

The European Astronaut Training Centre has three main functions. The first is of course to train the astronauts who fly to space. This includes the basic training of new ESA astronauts and mission specific training including those astronauts from the ISS partners, which includes aspects of training on ESAs Columbus module and the European Science Programme and other elements of life aboard the ISS.

The second function is to make sure that ESA astronauts are recruited in good health and stay in good health throughout their careers and during their missions. And thirdly we support the astronauts during their operations, either on the ground or while theyre on the space station, by providing crew and family support, for example.

As the ISS programme manager, Im responsible for the entire implementation of the ISS programme within the European Space Agency. This includes all the technical engineering that is required to sustain operations on the ISS and the activities of the European Astronaut Centre. In addition, I am also responsible for all the interactions with the international partners and making sure that the ISS partners can continue to deliver a successful programme.

An interesting point about the ISS is that we can use it, on the one hand, for new scientific discoveries, but also to prepare for long-term exploration activities, such as the lunar gateway and related technology demonstrations.

Another very interesting perspective is that together with the international partnership, we are trying to build and to stimulate what we call the low Earth orbit (LEO) economy. This is important because a lot of commercial companies are now also interested in working in low Earth orbit. So, in the future, we hope to continue to use LEO ourselves as customers, but also encourage an entire commercial customer base for LEO applications. This would of course reduce the cost for the agencies, which would mean that we could spend more of our resources on further exploration beyond LEO, for example to the Moon.

Overall, the training is very similar. In the ESA and NASA system, much more attention is given to the operational skills and to work in the simulators, while I think the Russian system gives more attention to the theoretical aspects. Indeed, at the end of your training in Russia you have to do an exam, while in ESA there is no formal exam but the overall performance during your training is taken into account.

The training hall at EAC in Cologne Germany.

The first published priority for ESA is to enhance the relationship with the European Commission. The European Commission today has many space programmes, the most important being Copernicus and Galileo, which are implemented by the European Space Agency. The commission has ambitions for further flagship programmes on behalf of the whole European Union and its important that we can continue to work together to implement these programmes.

The second priority is to see how space can further contribute to the general economy and how we can encourage further commercialisation in space. We see that, especially in the United States, a lot of resources are devoted to the development of space activities by private actors. The best-known examples of that are, of course, Elon Musk with SpaceX and Jeff Bezos with Blue Origin, but there are also other actors that invest a lot of money in space. So we have to see how private actors in Europe can participate in this larger space economy.

The third priority is space safety and security. This is important because our societies are increasingly dependent on our assets in space. Think about all the transportation providers that use Galileo navigation signals to find their way around. Think about all the companies and governments that use Copernicus data to enhance their productiveness, or the use of the Copernicus system in managing disasters. Its very important that we can guarantee the use of space in the future and the safety and security of all our space assets. An important element in this is, of course, the management of space debris, in other words the control and reduction of space debris.

A fourth priority is to enhance specific ESA programmes, such as the science programme which is one of the fundaments of the European Space Agency. This would include both robotic and human exploration, and one of the programmes that we will present to the ministers in 2022 is a cooperative programme with the international partners that would see the first European walking on the Moon by 2030.

And, finally, a fifth priority is to undertake a programme of internal reform within ESA to help us to implement all our programmes in the most efficient way.

Frank De Winne with Materials Science Laboratory hardware in the ISS Kibo laboratory.

ISS Russian segment including the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module (2021).

ESA today is not looking into issues of reproduction in space, but it is looking into the effects that can influence long-term survivability in space, for example for missions to Mars. Some of these aspects are of course linked to radiation, which is why ESA is investing a lot of resources in radiation monitoring that will be conducted on the gateway element.

We are also looking into counter measures for astronauts who would have to work in the microgravity environment for the long term. The most promising are related to novel exercise devices that we will test on the space station in 2024 and then hopefully fly to the gateway.

However, ESA is also doing studies for more advanced systems that could be needed in the next 20 to 30 years. For example, the agency is studying the effects of artificial gravity, together with universities and other researchers, although, as of today, we have no projects to build artificial gravity into our space stations.

International Space Station (2021).

Hosting a visit of German Chancellor Angela Merkel to EAC.

ESA has a diversity programme for the entire workforce and aims to be an inclusive employer, but as astronauts are the most visible element of our workforce, we want to have a larger diversity and inclusiveness in our astronaut corps.

Today, spacecraft and space stations are developed for people that have very specific characteristics, who are in good health and have no physical disabilities. However, it is clear that there are plenty of people in European society that have all the qualities and capabilities needed to be a good astronaut, which is why we want to have a feasibility programme to include those people that, besides their physical disability, would be fully qualified to fly to space.

For the moment, we are only looking for people that have lost the lower parts of their limbs, or are generally of short stature, a criterion based on discussions with specialists from the Paralympic committee. We really hope that some of the people with physical disabilities that we select can become fully professional astronauts.

Frank De Winne shows Luxembourg Deputy Prime Minister Etienne Schneider a mock-up of Europe s Columbus laboratory on the ISS at EAC.

Thats a difficult question. What impressed me the most during my spaceflight was how beautiful our Earth looks, but also how fragile it is. You can see how thin our atmosphere is and its only like a small sheet of paper that surrounds the enormous planet.

From the operational side, what impressed me most during my spaceflight was the first tracking and capture of the new HTV module.

I really dont have any negative things about my spaceflight except for the fact that for six months youre away from your family and your friends. Although you can talk with them on the phone, or through the video from time to time, its impossible to have close physical contact with them.

From space the lines drawn between countries are invisible. For example, it is impossible to see national borders between Belgium, Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Belarus and Russia.

The most impressive thing that Ive seen from space is that our Earth has no borders. For example, its impossible to see from space the border between Belgium, Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. This evoked for me a very strong feeling that, for some reason, we have drawn on the map of the Earth some fairly arbitrary lines that we now call borders and that today we are fighting over those lines.

We have to understand that we have only one planet, one Earth, and we are only one humanity in this immense universe. I really hope that in the future we find ways to live together on this planet as one single humanity.

Well, in recent years, the most significant developments are of course the investors in the US that have started developing private space capabilities. Think about the flights of Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin and of course, SpaceX, which has developed the Dragon Spacecraft. So we see, in the United States, a kind of space race developing between billionaires. I think this will have a very big impact on the future of space exploration.

Today, space is already available to non-professionals, but of course only if they are rich. I think sub-orbital flights will become more and more available for the less wealthy in the near future, but orbital flight will take a lot longer.

The only companies currently offering orbital flights on the commercial market are SpaceX and Axiom, and those flights are still very, very expensive. Of course, there are other options via the Russian government, including flights with Space Adventures, but they are as expensive and implemented through a government agency.

We also have to consider how we define space: do we define the flights that Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson have made as sub-orbital flights and define this as entering space, or do we confine the definition to orbital flights that circle around the Earth more than once?

SpaceX Dragon capsule delivering ISS crew.

I personally think it is unethical to implement one-way flights to Mars. We have to understand that on Mars that are no resources and we wouldnt survive, so a one-way trip to Mars would basically be a suicide trip. For this reason, I would certainly not support or fly on a one-way trip to Mars.

Commercial space station concept by Axiom.

The most important foundation that I have discovered in the 20 years that Ive worked in space is international cooperation. Throughout my time in ESA and the International Space Station programme we have faced many difficulties, but we were always able to overcome them thanks to the support of our international partners.

Lets think about the beginning of the ISS where we had the unfortunate space shuttle accident, or to some of the Russian Progress vehicles or the Soyuz that did not make it to the ISS. The partnership has been able to overcome these difficulties and the ISS is stronger than ever.

We were recently able to dock an additional element to the Russian part of the space station, the Multipurpose Laboratory Module (MLM) which carries the European Robotic Arm. This was only possible because we have thousands of people around the world who are convinced that working together is the best way forward. And despite all the political difficulties around the world today, we continue to work and provide science for the benefit of humankind every single day on the International Space Station.

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International cooperation - the key to survival on Earth and in space - Room: The Space Journal - ROOM Space Journal

The Cosmosphere is not expecting their new craft beer to enter space, but they are hoping those on the ground will enjoy it.

Along with Salt City Brewing Co. in Hutchinson, the Cosmosphere launched Space Race Hazy IPA during a send-off party on Monday at the Cosmosphere.

Space Race Hazy IPA celebrates the history and future of space exploration with a specially designed label. Partial proceeds from the sale of the beer and its branded merchandise support the Cosmosphere.

The brews space theme runs deep down to the hops. In recognition of this special partnership with the Cosmosphere, Salt City Brewing Co. owner Steven Petermann included a variety of hops known as Galaxy in his blend.

"The Cosmosphere approached me, and I am all about local, so anything I can do to promote excitement and support, I'm glad to be there," Petermann said.

Petermann describes the beer as aNew England-style hazy IPA. He said he uses Hutchinson water, which is vital to the taste of Space Race.

"It's very aromatic, very intense hot flavors. Juicy," he said. "This one I would describe as mango tangerine, citrusy flavors."

Petermann, who grew up on a farm near Great Bend and Holyrood, moved to Hutchinson in 1999. Now, he said, "I bleed local through and through. So anything I can do local, I'd love to be a part of."

TheCosmosphere's President and CEO Jim Remar also supports local.

"It's an opportunity for the Cosmosphere to help Salt City grow and to help the Cosmosphere brand," Remar said. "It has been a great partnership with Salt City and with the team at Howerton+White advertising in Wichita, which created the incredible graphics for Space Race."

More: Kansas' premier space museum, the Cosmosphere, gets a major facelift

Space Race is on tap at Salt City Brewing Co. tap room and through various liquor stores and distributors throughout Kansas. T-shirts, hats and pint glasses are for sale at the Cosmosphere. More information is available at spaceraceipa.com.

The Cosmosphereis a Smithsonian Affiliate. Its collection includes U.S. space artifacts second only to the Smithsonians National Air and Space Museum. The facilityalso contains the largest collection of Russian space artifacts outside of Moscow.

Located in central Kansas, this unique collection allows the Cosmosphere to tell the story of the Space Race.

Read more from the original source:

The Cosmosphere in Hutchinson gets its own locally brewed beer Space Race Hazy IPA - The Hutchinson News