Commercia l Spaceflig ht Opportunities for UK Education & Training J. Duncan Law-Green Dept. of Physics & Astronomy, Univ. of Leicester
Dec 21, 2015
CommercialSpaceflightOpportunities for UK Education & Training
CommercialSpaceflightOpportunities for UK Education & Training
J. Duncan Law-GreenDept. of Physics & Astronomy, Univ. of Leicester
Commercial SpaceflightCommercial Spaceflight• Spurred by successful flight of SpaceShipOne in
2004
• More than a dozen companies working on manned & unmanned suborbital systems
• Four companies working with NASA on commercial manned orbital, launch by 2009-10
• Commercial space station by 2010 (Bigelow Aerospace)
Active Duty Astronauts by AgencyActive Duty Astronauts by Agency
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
ESA
Virgin Galactic
RSA
NASA
Virgin GalacticVirgin Galactic• Constructing fleet of
5 spaceplanes, 2carrier aircraft
• Co-founder of Spaceport America, $225M project for world’s first passenger spaceport.
• 100 test flights scheduled 2008/9.
• First commercial flight late 2009.
• May also launch from Sweden (Kiruna) and Scotland (Lossiemouth).
Commercial Spaceflight: Rapid Development cycles
Commercial Spaceflight: Rapid Development cycles
20 years 6 monthsHuygensHuygens PixelPixel
Commercial Spaceflight: Small engineering teamsCommercial Spaceflight:
Small engineering teams
Image © Armadillo Aerospace Inc.
Commercial Spaceflight: Competitive
Commercial Spaceflight: Competitive
Image © Rocket Racing League
HighJump: Suborbital payloads for schoolsHighJump: Suborbital payloads for schools
• Make use of new cheap, reusable suborbital launchers (e.g. Masten XA-1.0)
• Launch large numbers (hundreds) of small “CanSat” payloads built by school/college students.
• Thousands of young peoplegain experience designing& operating space systems
• Corporate sponsorship opportunitiesArtist’s impression: Masten XA-1.0
Teachers in SpaceTeachers in Space
• Recruit several UK science teachers to undergo abbreviated form of astronaut training
• Culminates in suborbital flight with commercial provider (e.g. Virgin Galactic)
• Launch providers may give educational flights free of charge
• Similar program already exists in US
ConclusionConclusion
• The Revolution is Coming!
• Commercial spaceflight will show that space development can be exciting, challenging, profitable and fun.