TechCrunch by Bob Brumley 9/17/2017
President Trump, early in his Administration, has an opportunity to take a “giant leap for mankind” with a simple executive action –- save the International Space Station (“ISS”).
Every generation or so, a US President has this chance of moving humankind further off-planet and into space. Kennedy challenged NASA and American industry to successfully conduct a Moon Landing in the 60’s; Reagan transferred the role of commercial space transportation from NASA to the private sector in the 80’s.
Today, President Trump, by saving the ISS from de-orbiting in 2024, sets the stage for humankind’s movement out of earth orbit, to our nearest neighbor –- the Moon. This single act of vision and international leadership would provide a significant stimulus to a new generation of scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs, with measurable, direct, and indirect economic benefits to the US economy.
America — and the world — is engaged in a conversation about the future possibilities of living “Off-Planet” – whether it be the Moon, Mars or beyond. And a “New Space Generation” of visionaries and commercial risk takers are considering the practical, social and economic challenges to work, produce, and live off-planet. This generation is young, multi-national, creative, opportunistic, technically skilled, and realistic about the challenges and risks that lay ahead in pursuing opportunities “out there”, beyond Earth’s orbit.
The tools for their success for off-planet ventures, development, and settlement are already close at hand — reusable rockets for transportation & supply; lasers for deep space communications; new forms of habitation as staging for longer term settlement; advanced robotics for tasks deemed unsafe or too costly for humans to perform.
Private capital, sensing new market opportunities, appears eager to pursue space-based business models to support human expansion, such as deep space transportation, Off-Planet habitation, manufacturing, and production of food and minerals on the Moon, and possibly asteroids. What these risk takers need is a stable platform from which to stage their initial efforts. The ISS could be that platform, but no longer in Earth orbit.
Instead, the ISS could be re-purposed and re-deployed from its current low earth orbit, to an orbit around the Moon. This one step would provide a significant critical, stable infrastructure for human expansion onto the lunar surface.
Divesting the ownership of the ISS in favor of the private sector just makes good economic and public policy sense. Why throw the ISS away, when it could be offered to the international private sector for use as a lunar-staging infrastructure?
New space pioneers will need a safe harbor which would provide the stability of safety and security, particularly in times of trouble. The ISS could be such a safe harbor, orbiting around the Moon, and readily accessible from the lunar surface – providing security, stability, and a transition point between the Earth and the Moon for bi-directional commerce, communications, and safety.
More:
https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/17/save-the-international-space-station-and-give-it-to-the-private-sector/
