A new paradigm

The success of SpaceX has opened up immense possibilities

SpaceX, the private aerospace company led by the charismatic and controversial Elon Musk, has just completed a historic mission. Its Crew Dragon spacecraft delivered two astronauts from America's National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to the International Space Station (ISS) and returned safely to Earth. This is the first time a private company has successfully carried astronauts and returned, that too with the craft in reusable condition. It marks a new technological paradigm for the private sector and it has large implications for nations such as India with space-faring ambitions.

After NASA retired its Space Shuttles in 2011, the US hired seats on Russian spacecraft launched from Kazakhstan to ferry personnel to the ISS, which is itself a joint venture funded by five space agencies including the European Space Agency. NASA started looking for companies with the knowhow and willingness to invest in space vehicles; “taxis” and “rucks” to ferry goods and passengers to the ISS. It zeroed in on SpaceX and Boeing. Tendering out to the private sector is traditional for NASA. From inception, it has done research, set design and specifications, and tendered out for components, which it tests, assembles, and launches. Every component in NASA vehicles is supplied by the lowest bidder. About half of NASA’s annual budget, including the travel costs, goes on its commitments to the ISS. From the private sector’s perspective, building satellites and creating propulsion systems to place them in orbit are old hat. Private firms such as Virgin Galactic have also taken tourists to the edge of space and brought them back in short trips.

But building a reusable spacecraft, which can carry passengers safely to a place 400 km above the Earth, and return with them as necessary, is a different matter entirely. It presents huge technical problems, which need to be solved on a cost-effective basis within NASA’s budget. It isn’t just a question of getting there and back — SpaceX started making cargo deliveries to the ISS in 2012 itself. But human beings are delicate creatures. They cannot stand high-gravity acceleration; they need oxygen, and shielding from heat, cold, and radiation. The original deadline for a private passenger spacecraft was 2015. The five-year over-run is testimony to the difficulties involved and the Boeing shuttle, with similar capabilities, is scheduled for completion in 2021. But now that this test flight is done, other entrepreneurs will surely be inspired to emulate.

The ISS itself is due for retirement by 2024, though it may be refurbished and carry on operating till 2028. The replacement could be the Lunar Orbital Gateway, which will orbit the moon, or another larger facility, built with multilateral cooperation. That will lead to greater demand for space trucks and taxis. In addition, private companies and well-funded academic institutions may well be looking at facilities in space for various kinds of research. Telescopes work better in space, for example. There is a need to study bio-organisms in zero-gravity, high-radiation environments. There is a case for storing digitised DNA species records off-world and even for constructing spacecraft at the zero-gravity zone of the Lagrange points, where Earth and Lunar gravities cancel. 

There are countless potential commercial and military applications. The Indian Space Research Organisation projects that it could be looking at 15,000 satellite launches over the next six to nine years. This is apart from possible manned missions to the moon and Mars, and attempts to mine asteroids, etc. The occupation and exploitation of the zone between the Earth and moon will present a huge opportunity. Various nations are now rewriting laws to enable commercialisation. This has its dangers — SpaceX itself has been criticised for putting up a string of satellites, which interfere with astronomical observations. Space clutter represents another danger. Exploiting those opportunities responsibly will require inter-government cooperation and rewriting treaties. Doing it efficiently will require private enterprise to step forward with capital, engineering knowhow, and management skills. India has made a beginning with the commitment to induct the private sector into space in a larger way. The latest milestone underlines the need for giving this area high priority and getting the details right.