29 July 2012
Added "Space Debris and Its Mitigation" to the archive.
16 July 2012
Space Future has been on something of a hiatus of late. With the concept of Space Tourism steadily increasing in acceptance, and the advances of commercial space, much of our purpose could be said to be achieved. But this industry is still nascent, and there's much to do. So...watch this space.
9 December 2010
Updated "What the Growth of a Space Tourism Industry Could Contribute to Employment, Economic Growth, Environmental Protection, Education, Culture and World Peace" to the 2009 revision.
7 December 2008
"What the Growth of a Space Tourism Industry Could Contribute to Employment, Economic Growth, Environmental Protection, Education, Culture and World Peace" is now the top entry on Space Future's Key Documents list.
30 November 2008
Added Lynx to the Vehicle Designs page.
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News / Tourism (Good)
13 December 2000 by Patrick Collins
German TV show to fly 7 contestants to space station
Space tv AG, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the German television production company Brainpool of Cologne, is reported to have made reservations for 7 flights in the Russian 'Soyuz' launch vehicle between 2002 and 2008 to allow selected people to visit the Russian sector of the International Space Station.
/ Tourism (Bad)
28 November 2000 by Patrick Collins
Nasa's Space Tourism Cover-Up Continues
After more than a year, it seems fair to promote Nasa administrator Goldin's unkept promise to make the path-breaking report "General Public Space Travel and Tourism" (NP-1998-03-11-MSFC) available on Nasa's web-site to a broken promise.
News / Tourism (Bad)
12 November 2000 by Patrick Collins
...Duped by Own Space Agency?
On October 27 the British government published its reply to the recent tenth Report of its Select Committee on Trade and Industry which had recommended an independent review of launch vehicle investment policy, including the issue of passenger travel. This was the first time that any country's space policy has been challenged on this issue at such a high politicial level - and the Blair government's response illustrates well the bitter resistance of the existing 'space industry' to long-overdue change - because it totally ignores the central economic issue raised by the Select Committee!
News / Vehicles (Ugly)
23 October 2000 by Peter Wainwright
Cites interference by NASA as key reason
Rather than continue to compete against the government, Beal Aerospace has decided to cease operations. What provoked this decision? Well, X-33 was bad enough for the private launch vehicle industry, since no investor wants to put money into a company when the government (in the form of NASA) is seen to be funding a competitor, particularly one the size of Boeing or Lockheed. The 'Space Launch Initiative', which supercedes X-33 without it even flying once, ups the government ante from $1.5bn to a staggering proposed $4bn. It's not hard to see how an investor is likely to react to that.
Features / Vehicles (None)
17 October 2000 by
Where Space Access Is At Now and Why
After the Apollo missions, many expected Moon bases, manned Mars missions and, of course, floating wheel-like Space Stations. However that future has not yet transpired. So when will Joe and Jane Everyman get into orbit? In the years following the Apollo space program, a gradual evolution of NASA (and otherworld space agencies and programs) has been in progress. What started out as a politically motivated space race has now evolved into a slow, steady outward expansion and consolidation of government and commercial space activities. From the multibillion dollar data, voice, television, GPS navigation satellite services to privately developed expendable rockets and space cargo, the private sector has commercialized many aspects that were once the sole domain of government space agencies.
Events / Tourism (Good)
20 October 2000 by Patrick Collins
French Space Agency Finally Uses the 'T Word' (with an 'e')
Well, it happens to everyone eventually.
News / Tourism (Good)
27 September 2000 by Carol Pinchefsky
According to this CNN article, NBC has secured the rights to screen _Destination Mir_ for US$40 million. This guarantees a second visit by the general public, albeit a contest winner, to the Mir space station.
News / Tourism (None)
19 September 2000 by Patrick Collins
NASA's Approach to RLVs Shown To Be Totally Misconceived
NASA has recently admitted that the X-34 project, touted with the X-33 as the route to reducing launch costs, is at an impasse. Readers will remember that in 1995, as a result of the great success of the DC-X reusable rocket funded by the Defence Department, NASA announced its own RLV program - with the X-33 and X-34 reusable rockets as its centre-pieces. Both were to start a series of progressive demonstration flights in 1999, leading on to low-cost launch vehicles.
Online / Tourism (None)
23 August 2000 by Peter Wainwright
The Argonauts profile John Spencer
Just to prove that Mike Kelly, CEO of Kelly Space & Technology, isn't the only one getting a little press attention lately (GQ Magazine, September 2000), founder of Space Renaissance Inc and the Space Tourism Society John Spencer has recently been profiled by The Argonauts, a web magazine focussing on adventure travel.
Media / General (Good)
10 August 2000 by Carol Pinchefsky
"Survivor" in Space
According to MSNBC, Mark Burnett, the producer of “Survivor” who envisioned and realized 16 castaways duking it out for survival, like Gilligan’s Island with an edge, has made an even more daring programming decision: He plans a new “Survivor” series that will send 13 to 15 contestants to Star City, Russia. After a process of elimination, one lucky winner will be sent to Mir Space Station.
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