By akademiotoelektronik, 05/04/2022

Eldorado within reach

Space X changed everything. In a few years, Elon Musk's space transport company has broken the costs of launching satellites and shown that start-ups can trim the established positions of the giants of the sector. The satellite industry as a whole (manufacturing, launch, ground equipment, related services) is now worth more than $210 billion, twice as much as a decade ago, according to the Satellite Industry Association. While some already imagine Moore's law on microprocessors applying to these advanced technologies, space is becoming an activity that can be financed by private actors. Ambitious projects, not to say unrealistic sometimes, succeed in convincing investors. Start-ups in the sector sucked up nearly $2 billion in venture capital last year. Tech stars like Peter Thiel and Jeff Bezos, bargain sniffers like Richard Branson, movie stars like Leonardo DiCaprio are taking a keen interest in it. Conquering new markets in space, from orbital tourism to asteroid mining, is “the new frontier” of the 21st century. Technological progress could be faster than we think. Historical players like NASA intend to capitalize on the investments of disruptors to outsource certain activities and accelerate their own projects. For Jean-Jacques Dordain, who headed the European Space Agency until 2015, “the current competition between companies should generate good ideas and better solutions”. Demonstration in six areas.

Connect the whole world

On March 16, surrounded by Rick Scott, Governor of Florida, and his Airbus partners, Greg Wyler was very proud. The founder of OneWeb launched the construction of the first robotic chain of microsatellites in the world in Sewall, Florida, a few kilometers from the mythical Cape Canaveral, an 85 million dollar project. The culmination of fifteen years of struggle for this pioneer of the Internet for all, determined to connect to the Web the 3 billion people who are still deprived of it. A necessary step to accelerate economic progress in the most deprived areas. In two years, 900 microsatellites of 150 kg will be manufactured, their launch should begin at the end of 2018. A change of paradigm in a market where we are used to producing a satellite of several tons per month. These hundreds of satellites will be stationed at 1,250 km, an orbit much lower than that of geostationary (36,000 km), expensive to launch and maintain. The arrival of these “low cost” products is reshuffling the cards. Many companies have looked into the issue of global web coverage, but the projects that have been hatched in recent years have proven to be more difficult to implement than expected. Google has abandoned the idea of ​​solar-powered drones at very high altitudes to focus since January on the Loon project and its some 100,000 helium-filled balloons that can be controlled remotely. For its part, Facebook continues to dig the trail of drones. In early July, the second test flight of his solar-powered Aquila proved much more convincing than the first, which ended in a crash.

Observe the planet through a magnifying glass

With the collapse of observation rates from satellites in low orbit and the increase in the computing power of computers, new services are appearing. Evidenced by the agreement concluded in 2016 between Cnes and SNCF on the monitoring of the deformation of the rails and the state of the ballast - the mixture of sand and gravel which maintains the sleepers of a railway track. The satellites should come to replace the observation glasses of the track maintenance staff, "while at the start, the idea was to control the rail traffic via the European satellite Galileo", says amused the president of the Cnes, Jean- Yves Le Gall. Another example: monitoring the commitments made at the end of 2015 by the signatories of the climate agreement during the COP21. “From 2020, the European Microcarb and Merlin satellites will be responsible for measuring the impact of the measures taken to reduce carbon dioxide and methane,” explains Jean-Yves Le Gall.

Satellites have played a decisive role in observing the consequences of global warming, such as the steady rise in sea levels since the 1980s. Advances in very high resolution imagery also sometimes bring good news: scientists have just revised upwards (+10%) the extent of global forest cover. In addition, the deployment of Galileo, the European geolocation service, fully operational in 2019, should offer as yet unsuspected possibilities for the Internet of Things, with a precision far superior to that of the American GPS. Accurate to the billionth of a second, it will be an unbeatable tool for dating events - very useful, for example, for assessing damages to be paid by insurance companies. But orbits, already well populated, will be even more crowded, with an increasing risk of collision.

Clean out congested eye sockets

Gravity, the 2013 film starring George Clooney and Sandra Bullock, portrays quite realistically the damage that can be inflicted on space equipment by satellite debris, used rocket components, and even tools lost by astronauts. At 28,000 km/h, a fragment of a few centimeters can cause considerable damage. In less than a quarter of a century, the amount of debris large enough to destroy a spacecraft has already more than doubled, according to the European Space Agency (ESA). Since the launch of the first Sputnik in 1957, “some 42,000 artificial objects larger than 10 cm have accumulated in Earth orbit, observes Christophe Bonnal, expert in the direction of launchers at Cnes (1). Even if we stopped the launches, the number of waste would continue to increase because of the collisions. For its ten satellites in low orbit alone, ESA receives one collision alert per week. "If the awareness of this problem has progressed, the investments to remedy it are however relatively weak", observes Arthur Sejor of Archery Consulting.

Preventive measures have therefore been taken: no more satellite can remain in orbit twenty-five years after its end of operation. A constraint that is now integrated from the design stage. But it will be necessary to go “fishing out” the pieces currently in rotation around the planet and those of the years to come. Specialists explore all kinds of avenues: giant net, solar-powered sail, landing net, harpoon, robotic arm, tentacle, laser... Objective: catch, slow down, or hit the debris to precipitate it into the atmosphere where it will disintegrate .

In December, the Japanese Space Agency tested a 700-meter electrified cable to attract waste electromagnetically in order to slow it down and thus accelerate its fall back into the atmosphere. Unfortunately, the braided stainless steel and aluminum lanyard, developed with a fishing net specialist, failed to deploy. ESA hopes to have more success with the e-Deorbit mission. Equipped with a robotic arm or a net, its space-scrubbing satellite will then use its thrusters to reduce its altitude and harmlessly burn up in the Earth's atmosphere. One can also consider, instead of eliminating them, exile satellites at the end of their life in a graveyard zone, well beyond the 36,000 km where the operational satellites gravitate. This is the purpose of the TeSeR project led by a consortium of ten companies headed by Airbus. Attached to the satellite, an “ultra-reliable and low-cost” module must take care of sending it far from frequented areas.

Develop a new tourism

“Fly me to the Moon...OK.” It was with this tweet inspired by Frank Sinatra's song that Elon Musk, the flamboyant Silicon Valley billionaire, announced on February 28 the signing by two private passengers of the first flight contract to the Moon for the end of 2018. An odyssey of nearly 650,000 km in one week! Something to make you dizzy. At what price? No figure has been specified, but certainly in the order of several million dollars. These “tourists” of the third type will board Dragon 2, a variation of the capsule designed to transport NASA astronauts. It remains to complete the development of the SpaceX launcher. Training will begin this year. Anticipating the rise of this extreme hobby, the American administration already set in 2015 the legal framework for the procedures for selecting and training candidates for the thrill of space. Imperative because they jostle each other. Among them, the stars Justin Bieber and Leonardo DiCaprio have already signaled their interest. Will space one day be a tourist destination, if not trivialized, at least conceivable for everyone? Many are convinced of this: the CEO of SpaceX, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Richard Branson, the atypical founder of Virgin, the hotel billionaire Robert Bigelow or even the Russian government.

From 2001 to 2009, seven tourists have already made a "tour" to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard the Russian Soyuz spacecraft. Among them, the American billionaire Dennis Tito, who paid the “modest” sum of 20 million dollars. The suborbital flights promised by Jeff Bezos, at an altitude of only 100 km, will make it possible to learn. Afterwards, it will remain to give vehicles more comfort. Based on a technology acquired from NASA, Robert Bigelow aims to market in 2020 inflatable chambers "with a view" (sic) more spacious and comfortable than the ISS. In 2016, a 16 m3 Kevlar fiber prototype was successfully attached to the ISS. Compressed, the structure is easily transported to be inflated in space. What reduce the cost of putting into orbit. Another advantage: its resistance to space debris. But at the price of 20 million dollars for two months, Robert Bigelow first bet on researchers and pioneers of new space powers to occupy his "hotel". “The fact remains that while current technologies are relatively mature for industrial use, notes consultant Arthur Sejor, they are not for the transport of people, for which the reliability requirements are much higher than for a satellite.” We can easily imagine the damage in terms of image that the explosion of an Amazon or Virgin shuttle would cause en route. Suddenly, in the opinion of Arthur Sejor, "this new form of tourism should not materialize before 2030". The fiery Elon Musk intends to do better than that!

Exploiting the riches of asteroids

Étienne Schneider does not hide his satisfaction. "In one year, more than 60 international companies and research centers from the United States, Japan and Europe have knocked on our door to find out how to set up in our country", observes the Deputy Prime Minister of Luxembourg returning from a "space" mission on the west coast of the United States. Four of these players have already taken action: the American start-ups Planetary Resources and Deep Space Industries, the Japanese Ispace and the German fund OHB, all seduced by the bill favorable to setting up in the Grand Duchy. "space mining companies". Yes, you read that right, companies that plan to exploit mining resources on asteroids, or even on other planets.

Étienne Schneider's initiative is surprising coming from the smallest of the European Union states, but in fact Luxembourg knows the space industry well. Not content with hosting the ESA, the Grand Duchy is also behind SES, Europe's leading satellite operator. To diversify its activities beyond finance, increase its tax revenues and attract new high-tech jobs, Luxembourg is seeking to capitalize on the growing space mining market, which could one day meet the exhaustion earth resources. Two years after the United States, Luxembourg must become, on July 13, the first European country to provide a legal framework for private mineral exploration in space, inspired by maritime law. “Signed in the middle of the Cold War, the 1967 treaty prohibits a State from appropriating an entire asteroid. On the other hand, it is silent on the resources of these same asteroids”, underlines the lawyer Jean-Louis Schiltz, council of the government. He wishes to apply the same international rules to space as for fishing: the oceans do not belong to anyone and the fish belong to those who exploit them.

The Deputy Prime Minister has already converted Portugal, the United Arab Emirates and Japan to his vision. And hope that the UN will take up the subject soon. Out of a budget of 200 million euros, Luxembourg has already invested a quarter. In particular 25 million in Planetary Resources, a Washington State start-up founded by billionaire Peter Diamantis, which is content for the moment to place mini-telescopes in orbit but has already won over Richard Branson and Eric Schmidt. By the Luxembourg legislative elections of 2018, a public/private fund should be set up to create a national regulatory agency specific to commercial projects.

The Luxembourg initiative may seem utopian at first sight: most asteroids are very far from Earth, mainly between Mars and Jupiter. Of course, there remain those closest to the Earth or the NEOs that pass near it. So far, only the Japanese have been able to land a robot on one of these celestial bodies to bring back some dust. But for a decade, a dozen companies have positioned themselves in this niche. Naveen Jain, the founder of Moon Express, was able to raise $20 million last January. His company was the first to obtain a license for commercial exploitation on the Moon from the American government. For now, she is the only one.

Conquer Mars, the final frontier

Leonardo DiCaprio, who it is true has seen others between the sinking of the Titanic and the bears of the Rocky Mountains, is now ready to set off to conquer Mars. And to actually tread the dusty soil of the red planet - not like Matt Damon who only did it on screen. For the star, as for a growing number of entrepreneurs, artists or celebrities, Mars is the new frontier. Donald Trump wants to send a crew there before the end of his mandate in January 2021, which is clearly impossible. The official objective of NASA rather speaks of the 2030 decade. For Thomas Pesquet, it is "the technological adventure of the century". It must be recognized that it will not be easy. “Current technology would certainly make it possible to send a crew to Mars, but several challenges remain to be resolved”, insist Jean-François Clervoy and Franck Lehot in their History of the space conquest (2). “The low density of the Martian atmosphere requires having braking and landing systems for vessels much heavier than the small robots deposited so far,” they give as an example of a complication. Large parachutes supporting hypersonic speeds and inflatable braking shields are under study. On site, the astronauts will also have to protect themselves from radiation and corrosive dust. To take off again, they will have to manufacture the necessary fuel on site, perhaps from the water, methane and hydrogen available. If humans have ever conducted isolation experiments, such a long and distant mission in space has never before taken place.

Unlike what happened for the Moon, NASA might not be the first to reach the goal. Private initiatives are flourishing. Several organizations are planning a human colony, including Mars One, a foundation created by Dutch engineer Bas Lansdorp. More than 200,000 candidates have volunteered, and after a first skimming there are still 100 left, for 24 places. This year, three to four groups must be recruited full-time for training that will be the subject of a reality show - whose income forms the bulk of the business model. The Martian conquest will perhaps be more than a "business", a necessity if living conditions on Earth were to deteriorate faster than expected. As part of a documentary broadcast by the BBC, the famous physicist Stephen Hawking recently estimated that, if they want to survive, humans will have to leave Earth within a hundred years and colonize another planet...

(1) “Space pollution”, Christophe Bonnal. Belgium, 2016

(2) "History of the conquest of space", Jean-Christophe Clervoy and Frank Lehot. Vuibert, 2015

Astronomical sums

$13.3 billion The amount invested in space start-ups since 2000. (Source: Goldman Sachs) $25-50 billion The estimated value of the platinum deposit of an asteroid the size of a football field. (Source: Planetary Resources). 250,000 dollars This is the price of a ticket for a visit to space on Virgin Galactic, 80 times cheaper than that of Dennis Tito on Soyuz in 2001. (Source: Goldman Sachs)

75 years of space conquest

October 3, 1942 The space age begins with the V2 rockets of German engineers Wernher von Braun and Hermann Oberth.October 4, 1957 Launch of the first satellite by the Russians, Sputnik 1.12 April 1961 Russian Yuri Gagarin (1) is the first man sent into space.July 20, 1969 The American Neil Armstrong (2) is the first man to set foot on the Moon at the end of the Apollo 11 mission. April 12, 1981 First takeoff of the American space shuttle Columbia.1986 Assembly of the first station space station Mir, which was succeeded by the international space station in 2001.April 28, 2001 American billionaire Dennis Tito becomes the first space tourist for $20 million.June 3, 2010-Nov 4, 2011 Successful test for a "Martian" mission ashore, in Moscow: 525 days of isolation for three Russians, an Italian, a Frenchman and a Chinese. Nov 12, 2014 The Rosetta space probe (3) lands its Philae lander on the surface of comet "Chury" to better understand the formation of the solar system. March 31, 2017 SpaceX succeeds in launching a rocket (4) whose first stage has already been used, a first. And a prelude to reusable rockets?