Competition Growing in Commercial Space Sector: Twenty years ago, the idea of commercial space travel was almost unimaginable. But today, it is a vibrant industry that is fiercely competitive and thoroughly exciting.
One of the freshest examples of this “new space” industry is the recent launch of Rocket Lab of their inexpensive, disposable, two-stage rocket, Electron. This rocket is 56 feet (17 meters) long and is designated a lightweight, dedicated, satellite launch vehicle.
This launch, conducted from the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand was unique because it was the first private rocket put into space from a private launch facility. Though it didn’t achieve orbit, this test flight was still considered a huge success – mission goals were attained. Then again, whenever your first test flight of a new rocket makes it into space, you are decidedly ahead in the game, right?
Rocket Lab is clear in its mission: Have three successful test launches in order to advance their commercial phase of the program and open space for business. And that’s a concept that virtually all business aviators can embrace.
SpaceX recently announced a remarkable ambition as well – a planned tourist flight around the moon. It plans to ferry two passengers to the moon in the Dragon 2 crew capsule aboard the Falcon Heavy rocket – both of which are scheduled for unpiloted test flights later this year.
The passengers will be treated to a low flyover of the moon’s surface and travel out to 400,000 miles (650,000 kilometers) from the Earth. Then the spacecraft will use the moon’s gravity to slingshot them back to Earth. The entire “vacation” will take a mere five days to complete. And if things go as planned, this could happen around the end of 2018. Coincidentally, the trip date could potentially fall on or around the 50th anniversary of the historic Apollo 8 voyage to the moon.
The only possible wrinkle would be a conflict in commitments made by SpaceX to NASA, which has contracted SpaceX for several delivery missions to and from the International Space Station over the next few years. Though doubtful there will be scheduling and resource conflicts, SpaceX has assured NASA it’s missions will take priority and the tourist trip will be rescheduled if need be. You can visit Space.com for a more complete write-up on this story.
At present, there are roughly two dozen commercial space companies around the planet – 14 in the U.S., four in the UK and others in Chad, Denmark, Isle of Man, Japan, Russia, and Spain. Nearly all are developing spacecraft and programs for manned flights and about nine of the 24 are self-powered vehicles. The configurations include capsules, capsule plus booster, rockets, and a surprising number of spaceplanes. Their missions will be largely low-earth orbit and sub-orbit, but some will be designed for orbital, lunar orbit, translunar injection, and deep-space missions. The one thing that all these competitors share is a strong sense of adventure coupled with an enduring entrepreneurial spirit.
We live in an amazing world at a very exciting time, and there seems to be no limits to what we can achieve. Visit UAS Blog often for more updates like this and other compelling industry topics.
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Mitch Launius
Instructor Pilot for 30 West IP
Mitch is the CEO of 30 West IP where he is also an instructor providing pilot training on international procedures. With an illustrious career of over 34 years in the cockpit, Mitch has acquired over 13,000 hours of flight time flying worldwide, with over 9,000 hours of this in Challenger and Gulfstream aircraft. He is an experienced safety officer and was also an IS-BAO project manager for a fortune 500 flight department. He has presented on Safety and Operations topics at the NBAA International Operators Conference and the Canadian Business Aviation Association Convention and is currently on the NBAA International Operators Committee and serves as the North Atlantic Regional Lead. Mitch is also a member of an FAA working group on General Aviation International Authorizations and Tabletop Exercises (GIATE). He was recently selected to represent IBAC as a member of the ICAO Personal Training and Licensing Panel (PTLP) and was also recently named as a 2020 recipient of the NBAA Tony Kern Professionalism in Aviation Award for his contribution to the business aviation community.
Henry ‘Duke’ LeDuc
Director Of Operations, Americas, UAS International Trip Support
Duke has been a dearly respected member of UAS Americas team and the UAS global family for more than five years. A safety-oriented, FAA-licensed aircraft dispatcher, he oversees all of the operations of the elite UAS Operations Team. With twenty-five years of experience in aviation overall with more than fifteen years of experience in international flight planning and VVIP trip coordination, he is responsible for the development of the dispatch training program and involved in the strategic development of UAS Americas. With a myriad of rich aviation experience behind him, he has extensive experience in worldwide operations with both corporate and charter environments, including seven years as Operations/Dispatch Manager in an industry-leading, Fortune 500, IS-BAO Stage III Certified corporate flight department. Duke is frequently asked shares his knowledge at major industry events and is currently serving on the NBAA’s International Operators Conference (IOC) Planning Committee.
Dudley King
President and Founder, FlightBridge
Dudley is the Founder and President of FlightBridge, which he established in 2011 and has been focused on technology solutions for the private aviation industry since 2006. Since he graduated from Dartmouth in 1988, he has worked with an array of companies listed anywhere from VentureWire to the Fortune 100. A rare blend of executive, entrepreneur, and consultant, Dudley’s executive roles have included acting CIO positions for several companies and tech advisory services to CEOs trying to rebuild their technology organizations or looking for an external, professional point of view. Highly skilled at deeply understanding his customer’s business challenges and drawing from a long and varied experience in information technology services, Dudley excels at designing technology solutions to solve their problems.
Dr. Paulo Alves
Global Medical Director, Aviation Health, Medaire
Paulo has extensive experience in medical advisory in the aviation industry. As a cardiologist, he provides technical guidance and analysis for MedAire’s MedLink medical advisory service and is MedAire’s liaison with civil aviation regulators and industry associations. Paulo worked with Varig Brazilian Airlines for 23 years, 10 of which were spent as General Medical Manager. A member of the MedAire Medical Advisory Board, Paulo is also President of the Ibero-American Aerospace Medical Association, a member of the International Academy of Aerospace Medicine, a member of the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) Safety Committee, a Fellow of the Aerospace Medical Association (AsMA), and a Fellow of the Civil Aviation Medical Association. Throughout his illustrious career, Paulo has held industry leadership roles including Chairperson of the AsMA’s Air Transport Medicine Committee, President of the Airlines Medical Directors Association, President of the Brazilian Society of Aerospace Medicine and was a member of the IATA Medical Advisory Group from 2002 to 2006.
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