Up and coming! Bigelow Aerospace and its BEAM - Bigelow Expandable Activity Module will be deployed on the International Space Station next year. Credit: Bigelow Aerospace
A new NASA report provides an introduction and overview, and a look into the future, of the emerging “space ecosystem” and American private-sector space activities.
Titled Emerging Space: The Evolving Landscape of 21st Century American Spaceflight, the report is by the NASA Office of the Chief Technologist, 2014.
The report is available from NASA’s Emerging Space Office (ESO), “formed in recognition of the rising importance of private-sector individuals and organizations that invest their own time and money in space activities. This emerging space community is increasingly a major force in American space developments,” ESO’s website notes.
According to the newly issued report, the United States stands today at the opening of a “second Space Age.”
Industrial strength space
“Innovative NASA programs and American entrepreneurs together are transforming the space industry,” the report says.
“These initiatives – both at NASA and in the private sector – are expanding the nation’s opportunities for exploration and for the economic development of the solar system.”
The report stresses that NASA’s goal is to develop the capabilities that will allow the American people to explore, pioneer, and expand our economic sphere into the solar system.
“To do this we will build on our long-standing relationships with American industry by embracing new and diverse forms of partnerships,” the report explains.
Gof to the report, Emerging Space: The Evolving Landscape of 21st Century American Spaceflight, at:
http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/files/Emerging_Space_Report.pdf
Also go to NASA’s Emerging Space Office (ESO) Website at:
http://www.nasa.gov/offices/oct/emerging_space/#.VElIsPnF8nV
By Leonard David