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Speaking during the virtual Farnborough International Airshow Connect, sector leaders including Jan Wörner, director general of the European Space Agency (ESA), and Graham Turnock, CEO of the UK Space Agency (UKSA), stressed the continuing positive impact of new projects – even while many are focused on the Covid-19 pandemic.
Engineering expertise from the space sector is vital to the development of cutting-edge new technology, said Andrew Stanniland, Thales Alenia Space UK CEO, during ‘Why Mars: the out of this world benefits of space exploration’.
“During the last few months quite a few of the space companies were involved in the Covid response, not just in the UK but across the world, and that’s because we tend to employ people that can put their brains to all sorts of different problems,” he said.
“If you could quantify how many people have worked in the space industry who are now in other industries, bringing that expertise that they’ve learned in harsh environments, into more Earthly problems – you know, robotics, autonomy, AI, agriculture, things like that – I think you would find that there is a lot of money to be made in the private sector from space, and there will continue to be.”
People questioning the wider benefit of space investment are “totally wrong”, said ESA director general Wörner. “Overall space has a factor of one to six, meaning £1 invested leads to £6 return. One to six. Now we look to different missions and people say… ‘Why go to Mars when we have Covid problems on Earth?’
“And I believe this is a totally wrong and stupid reaction. Even in exploration we can show that direct return on investment is one to two… so there is a benefit, and I must say I’m not so happy about all of these discussions, which are mainly coming from politicians.”
The panel was nonetheless positive about space sector support from consecutive UK governments, which have funded many projects including the Sutherland spaceport and £20m for the Solar Orbiter probe, which recently provided the closest ever images taken of the Sun. The industry is vital for fields including climate monitoring and disaster response, said the UKSA’s Turnock, as well as the economic and scientific benefits.
Although the title of the session focused on Mars, there was agreement amongst the panel that Moon projects such as the Lunar Gateway and commercial rover missions will make important engineering breakthroughs to help humans travel further through the solar system. Water and minerals on the Moon could be used for permanent lunar structures, or even provide fuel for trips to Mars.
“To sustain life beyond a limited period you’re going to need access to water, and then you’re going to need to crack water to get oxygen, and the opportunities to develop technologies and solutions to do that exist on the Moon because we know there is ice there,” said Turnock. “Also clearly once you move out of the Earth’s lower orbit you’re exposed to radiation, so again a mission to Mars would expose astronauts to lengthy periods of cosmic irradiation, so going to the Moon is a good place to test for a period of time.”
The coronavirus pandemic has caused issues for the sector, including a postponed launch for the Airbus UK-assembled ESA-Roscosmos Rosalind Franklin rover, previously known as ExoMars.
“Obviously it’s really disappointing,” said Turnock. “So many people worked so hard to put together the Rosalind Franklin rover and get it ready for launch, so not being able to do it is obviously a real shame. But obviously a combination of Covid and some really challenging technical issues, which we just didn’t feel in the end we had time to resolve… meant in the end it was best to say ‘Let’s go again in two years’ time’.”
The panel was nonetheless positive about the continuing ability for new robotic and astronaut exploration missions to bring real benefits for life on Earth.
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Content published by Professional Engineering does not necessarily represent the views of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.