Michael Kaufman
We will do these reports relatively quickly.
Team 3 : Industry / Advisory Group
In the spirit of an action plan, we identified an ad hoc industry group. This group could meet before August 1. The point is not the organizational structure, but that the issue now get addressed by the right companies. It's not a government driven group, but small and large companies all over the world.
We made a list of things we thought should be addressed. Property rights is at the top of the list, and this is not just about physical property. It could be intellectual property. Compliance would come from greater dialogue involvement.
We need recognition and clarification of the property rights treaties in order to move forward with space commerce. Technology transfer controls are impediments as well as enablers. We'd want to minimize the impediment aspect. They are not insurmountable issues. Traffic control is another issue, as is search and rescue. Liability is a major issue, especially when it comes to protecting investors. Salvage - who can repossess things left behind? Common standards and interoperability are clearly other issues.
Dispute resolution and settlement, and space and surface debris are other issues. Debris can be remedial as well as preventive. The relationship between government and industry varies across the globe but it needs to be discussed through international collaboration. Finally, ACCESS organization and funding has to occur, as well as a mandate for it. That will have to be an agenda item. Environment is also important. Finally, heritage site protection should have a special status because certain lunar sites have special meaning to those nations that put things there.
I will do my best to ensure we carry forth on these actions.
Team 1: Information Exchange
We need a local version of how to get information from each other after today. We want to see where we can get funding, how we can get and add value, and have a cross-pollination. To take it to a higher level, what has to happen to us as a space and scientific community? It would be great to have a portal and access to research information. Where would be one resource, like a hub, that would enable us to exchange information so we don't get into a competitive strategy? That led to a conversation about the Space Portal helping making that happen.
Team 2: Government Position Statement
What is our outcome from this workshop? Basically, it's how to further the commercialization of space. We have to turn it over to business in a friendly manner. NASA is currently a roadblock to that. They have more red tape than profits. How do we remove that roadblock and position NASA as a supportive mission? The challenge for folks seeking funding is that they don't have the ability to go into an investment negotiation to get the emotional investment as well as the funding. How do you position that and get it out to the community?
How do we let others know that as a government agency, we are open to business? We're not a big monolithic roadblock anymore. We want commerce to happen. How do we communicate that?
We came up with several tag line options. How can we communicate the legacy NASA has created to drive support? We could have a documentary, but one different than NASA has done in the past. It has to be inspirational. We have a 90 second concept that can be communicated with passion. How can we take this into the marketplace?
This is a presentation we recently made to Google and is an example on how we can communicate things. Visit this website to view the presentation: http://www.spaceislandgroup.com/google-docs1.html
That gives you an idea. Forget what we were presenting. Let NASA communicate that the space doors are open. The benefits are immense and in many different arenas. NASA could communicate to the business world that they are interested in supporting them. There are tremendous opportunities to change the world.
Team 4: Pathfinder Project
There was an interesting journey made by our group. We started off with two basic concepts to pursue: protein crystal growth and infectious disease drugs. Both need to fly in space and they both need to return safely with samples. So we looked at the high road of what we wanted to do.
These guys have a very proven technology. They need a small amount of money. We just need to get people to see the possibilities. We come back to the low cost launch that's necessary to turn this into a business. We need to bring the demand and supply sides together. We have to have a convergence and that's what we're aiming to do. We put together a team of committed folks to come up with a business plan for each one of these and a team has signed up for each one. We are also soliciting volunteers. Within three months we want some business plans we can float to people and show what we can do. What else should be in the queue?
The two business plans are synergistic. We're excited, so join us!
Team 5: Marketing Ideas
From the marketing team, we have to create a need, or the perception of need, that's right. Using the infectious disease arena, we could use a specific marketing tool of urgency. It's an issue that resonates throughout the community and is something you could build a base on.
Michael Kaufman
Are there any closing comments before we setup for General Worden?
Discussion
I spoke with my wife last night about some of what we discussed yesterday. Her opinion was that we could sell the first gigawatt used on the moon, but it still seems too far out to sell to the general public. Making it real is something we need to work on.
Are there any venture capital or marketing members in the room to give us their impression on what has been done in the session?
I'd like to hear from the VC's.
But they might not want to spotlight their presence.
International competition is another potentially strong way to create a sense of urgency. If we don't step up to the plate very soon, we will lose markets. This is such a no-brainer. What can NASA do to help with this case, what are the components to help provide the spark? I'd like that opportunity to not go to China or Europe.
A German physicist actually started it, but NASA flew his experiment. It was an amazing result and got a lot of folks excited.
We've talked a lot with the investor community. The issue is flight frequency and the ability to have a price point to allow small payloads to be affordable and done frequently enough throughout the year to support the learning cycle. The second piece is that the samples have to be returned safely for many of the markets we want to pursue. Every analytical instrument may have to be tailor made for its specific research need. Somehow we need an aggregation capability. The Space Portal is committed to exploring that over the next few months. We will hit these issues hard at the upcoming space conference in September.
How about the flea market idea?
We want to aggregate the solutions with the interested flyers. AIAA has been instrumental in the technology flea market. During the conference, we will bring in folks with space craft solutions and let all the participants in to go shopping for the solutions and opportunities out there to help aggregate flights. If you're interested, come talk to Lynn.
I'd like to reiterate the importance of connecting the world with what has happened here. People can relate to lifesaving processes that came from evolution of the space program. There is an incredible array of what can happen once we get into space. That has to be communicated. There needs to be some unification of the message and a rallying point. Once some of the big ones go through, others will follow. Let's help start the stampede.
NASA needs help from our industrial partners. There's tremendous potential to do wonderful things. We know that but almost everyone else doesn't. We need to take that message forward.
Thank you for coming and for keeping the passion up all the way to the very end. We all want to advance space. All the documentation will be posted on a website. You will get an email about how to reach that. More importantly, if you have comments on how to do this better or want to be involved on the follow-through, please let us know. What other opportunities are out there that you are aware of? Share those with us. This is not the last of the forums. It's a seed; we're just beginning the germination of coordinating people. There are lots of differences between folks and we're trying to promote this through the Space Portal.
As an outsider, I'm extremely impressed with the passion you've shown. I see NASA being very passionate about that.
Mark Nall and Fred Best have been instrumental in making this session a success. We owe them a big thank you.
Thank you. Clearly we see that commercial has the lead and will keep the lead when it comes to space. Thanks to NASA and ACES for making this session happen. Thanks to all the attendees for coming. I hope the exposure has been helpful to all of you. We have made some concrete action plans and that's great.
I'd like to echo Mark's comments. I particularly want to thank the people who came from the outside and contributed their thinking and ideas. The combination of outside thoughts to subvert the dominate paradigm is important. Thank s to our RPC directors and to all of you.
I'd also like to thank Michael and the InnovationLabs team. Its a wonderful way to facilitate things. Thank you.
Okay, we have time for a short break before the General gets here.
