Apollo to Elon Musk: the new frontiers of space

Recorded at the Battle of Ideas festival 2022 on Sunday 16 October at Church House, Westminster.

ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION

December 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the last Apollo moon mission, Apollo 17. At that time, space exploration was a near-duopoly between the USA and USSR. Since then, it has been confined to unmanned probes or manned research projects, most notably the International Space Station. NASA’s plan to get humans back to the Moon had a false start with the postponement of August’s Artemis I launch.

In recent years, there have been multiple new national players on the scene. China first put a man into space in 2003 and has been putting in place the components of its own large modular space station, Tiangong-3, since 2021. India has launched unmanned missions to the Moon and plans to put a lander there in 2023. Dozens of countries, from Algeria to Vietnam, now operate satellites.

There has also been a proliferation of private companies working in space – including firms like Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin and Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic that aim to offer civilian tourist flights. Musk’s Starlink satellite communications service has also played a crucial role in communications during the war in Ukraine.

What is the future for our use of space? Will manned missions beyond Earth’s orbit make a comeback any time soon? And is regulation possible or desirable – or has the Final Frontier become the new Wild West?

SPEAKERS
Ian Crawford
professor of planetary science and astrobiology, Birkbeck College, University of London

Dr Norman Lewis
director, Futures-Diagnosis Ltd; co-author, Big Potatoes: the London manifesto for innovation

Thomas Walker-Werth
fellow and editor, Objective Standard Institute; co-host, Innovation Celebration

CHAIR
Dr Paul Reeves
developer of Manufacturing Simulation Technology