Space Access ’07 – Some final thoughts

Two weeks ago my father and I flew down to Phoenix for a three day conference on getting into space. Space Access ‘07 was very enlightening. Two weeks ago I blogged in great volume about the conference. All together the posts came to about 45 pages. Today I’ll write about some general thoughts about the conference, and wrap things up.


Pictures of the speakers

Ian Kluft took pictures of many of the speakers. He also has some notes. If you are a visual person and would like to see what the speakers look like, start here and then go to each section.


A tipping point

One of the great realizations from Space Access ‘07 is that we are very, very close to seeing private industry in space. Up until now the access to space for individuals has been through NASA, and then recently through Russia. Other than satellites there has been very little business presence in space.

This will soon change. There are almost a dozen small businesses which are working to get into space. Several of them is working to become the United or South West of space travel. They are getting close. They have been working to develop rockets. They have worked out bugs in engine design. They have developed guidance systems. They are plowing through all paperwork and legal hassles.

In just a couple years the price for an individual to fly into space will drop such that thousands or people, and then eventually millions, will be able to afford a trip beyond the bounds of our atmosphere. When that happens there will be some great changes.


Good camaraderie

While these are separate companies, they are working together. They are sharing information and ideas. They share the vision and passion of being pioneers in the development of space. A couple times a speaker would mention where they have found a certain widget, or some ideas they were kicking around. Each of them desperately wants to get into space. And they encourage each other and will cheer when others succeed.


Space Access – going forward

My father has already signed up for the next Space Access conference in 2008. If you want to be kept informed you can check in on their web site frequently. Or you can send an email to space.access@space-access.org and asked to be added to the Space Access mailing list.

I also plan to go back. It was fun. If you are interested in space, and have a chance to go next year, I encourage you to give it a try.


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