<h2>3D Printed Rockets</h2>
We&#8217;ve seen 3D printed rockets <a href="https://futurism.com/relativity-3d-printed-rocket">before</a>, but never on this scale.
UK space startup Orbex just showed off its Prime Rocket&#8217;s gigantic second stage — the &#8220;world&#8217;s largest 3D printed rocket engine,&#8221; according to a <a href="https://orbex.space/assets/uploads/documents/Forres-launch-press-release-FINAL-no-embargo-notice.pdf">press release</a>. The entire rocket, including the engine, will stand at 56 feet (17 meters) tall — roughly a quarter of the size of SpaceX&#8217;s Falcon 9 rocket, for context. In other words, things are heating up in the world of 3D printed spacecraft.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
BREAKING NEWS: Orbex reveals <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Prime?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Prime</a>, the completed stage 2 rocket and the world’s most efficient <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/smallsat?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#smallsat</a> launcher. It includes the world’s largest 3D printed rocket engine and designed to run on bio-propane, a <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/clean?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#clean</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/renewable?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#renewable</a> energy source. <a href="https://t.co/jl0qARduyb">https://t.co/jl0qARduyb</a> <a href="https://t.co/9Nos4325aV">pic.twitter.com/9Nos4325aV</a>
&mdash; Orbex Space (@orbexspace) <a href="https://twitter.com/orbexspace/status/1093566647720390656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 7, 2019</a></blockquote>
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<h2>Seamless</h2>
The news comes weeks after U.S.-based startup Relativity Space <a href="https://futurism.com/air-force-grants-launch-site-3d-printed-rocket-relativity-space">signed a contract</a> with the U.S. Air Force to launch their 3D printed rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
Orbex worked with aerospace engineer veterans from organizations including NASA and the European Space Association to build the Stage 2 rocket, which is the part of a multi-stage rocket that pushes a spacecraft into orbit after a launch from Earth.
The startup claims it&#8217;s the first time a 3D printed rocket engine was &#8220;uniquely manufactured in a single piece without joins.&#8221; That means the rocket is up to 30 percent lighter and 20 percent more efficient than other small launchers. No welds or joins also means that the rocket could withstand extreme temperature and pressure fluctuations better.
The rocket is also designed to use bio-propane, a &#8220;clean-burning, renewable fuel source that cuts carbon emissions by 90 percent.&#8221;
<h2>3D Printed Future</h2>
Orbex has already made major strides, choosing the yet-to-be-built <a href="https://spacenews.com/lockheed-martin-orbex-to-launch-from-new-british-spaceport/">spaceport in Sutherland, Scotland</a> last year for its upcoming first launch in 2021. The company also partnered with Swiss satellite tech startup <a href="https://phys.org/news/2018-12-astrocast-successfully-satellite.html">Astrocast</a> to launch 64 nanosatellites to build a global Internet of Things network.
It&#8217;s yet another sign that the private space sector is growing — and at an unrelenting pace. 3D printing technology could push it even further ahead.
READ MORE: <a href="https://www.engadget.com/2019/02/08/3d-printed-rocket-engine-orbex/">Take a look at the world&#8217;s largest 3D-printed rocket engine</a> [Engadget]
More on 3D printed rockets: <a href="https://futurism.com/air-force-grants-launch-site-3d-printed-rocket-relativity-space">U.S. Air Force Approves Launch Site for 3D Printed Rocket</a>

The rocket uses bio-propane, cutting 90 percent of carbon emissions.

UK startup shows off world's largest 3D printed rocket engine

3D Printed Rockets

UK space startup Orbex just showed off the design of its 3D-printed second stage for its Prime Rocket.

UK Startup Shows Off World’s Largest 3D Printed Rocket Engine

It's designed to use a renewable fuel for maximum efficiency.

TOO MANY PORTS. In all of 2017, 29 spacecraft launched from three launchpads in the U.S.
So why do we now have 10 active spaceports — sites for launching or receiving spacecraft — when seven of them are just taking up space?
That&#8217;s the question explored in a <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/americas-spaceport-boom-is-outpacing-the-need-to-go-to-space/?CNDID=13660475&amp;mbid=nl_090518_daily_list3_p4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> published by WIRED on Wednesday.
The problem seems to be that the reality of space travel today simply doesn&#8217;t match past expectations.
&#8220;For many of us who’ve been following the commercial space industry for the past 10 to 15 years, I think it’s going slower than everybody had hoped,&#8221; aerospace and spaceport expert Brian Gulliver told WIRED. &#8220;We expected more launch vehicles to be operating now.&#8221;
AN OPTIMISTIC OUTLOOK. Of course, just because those expected launches aren&#8217;t happening yet doesn&#8217;t mean they won&#8217;t in the near future.
Several companies are working tirelessly to usher in the era of <a href="https://futurism.com/new-shepard-tickets-blue-origin/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">space tourism</a>. When (or if) they&#8217;re successful, people across the nation could eventually flock to these spaceports to hitch a ride off-world.
Satellites are also getting <a href="http://fortune.com/2018/07/18/space-satellites-brainstorm-tech/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">smaller, cheaper, and more powerful</a>, which means we could see an increase in launches in the near future — another potential use for the U.S.&#8217;s many spaceports.
IF YOU BUILD IT&#8230; The organizations (some public, some private) in the cities hosting currently-dormant spaceports hope that having the facilities in place could draw aerospace companies to set up shop nearby. Then, when those companies are ready for liftoff, the spaceports will be able to fulfill their intended purpose.
And it costs some serious cash to be &#8220;hopeful&#8221; — one spaceport in New Mexico, for example, cost <a href="https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/new-mexico-unveils-198-million-cost-estimate-for-sp-212821/">almost $200 million</a> to build.
For each spaceport to host even one launch per month, we&#8217;d need to more than quadruple 2017&#8217;s number of launches. That&#8217;s not likely to happen overnight. So for now, the people invested in those spaceports will just have to hope theirs is one of the lucky ones to host the handful of launches currently available.
READ MORE: <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/americas-spaceport-boom-is-outpacing-the-need-to-go-to-space/?CNDID=13660475&amp;mbid=nl_090518_daily_list3_p4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">America&#8217;s Spaceport Boom Is Outpacing the Need to Go to Space</a> [WIRED]
More on space tourism: <a href="https://futurism.com/new-shepard-tickets-blue-origin/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Digest: Blue Origin’s Spaceflight Tickets Will Go on Sale in 2019</a>

We might have been a little over-eager for the private space industry to take off.

The US has tons of spaceports but not enough launches

Off World

The U.S. currently has far more spaceports, sites for launching and receiving rockets, than it needs, but that could change in the near future.

The US Has Tons of Spaceports But Not Enough Launches

We don't need 10 spaceports for 29 launches per year.

<h2>Is This the Future?</h2>
In many ways, humanity is at a turning point, and one of the sectors in which this fact is made most palpable is in space exploration. In recent years, we have <a href="https://futurism.com/rosetta-mission-update-philae-has-woken-up/">landed on a comet</a>, traveled to <a href="https://futurism.com/new-horizons-captures-close-up-of-plutos-terrain/">worlds at the furthest reaches of our solar system</a>, and flung ourselves into the <a href="https://futurism.com/spacex-blue-origin-whos-winning-space-race-2-0/">era of commercial spaceflight and reusable rockets</a>.
To that end, one thing is clear: The long-term future of the human species in space will be decided in the coming years, so it makes sense to start talking now.
Recently, the <a href="https://spacefrontier.org">Space Frontier Foundation</a>—an organization whose mission is to help us shirk gravity’s intolerable yoke by fostering the private space industry—brought together representatives from some of the biggest players in the private space industry (Planetary Resources, Vulcan Aerospace, Blue Origin, and Bigelow Aerospace&#8230;just to name a few), for the eleventh annual <a href="https://newspace.spacefrontier.org">NewSpace Conference</a>, an event aimed at evaluating the current state and future prospects of an endeavor that very few of us get to participate in: The quiet conquest of the final frontier.
<a href="https://twitter.com/heyyhannahrae?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor">Hannah Kerner</a> and <a href="http://www.jeffmmatthews.com">Jeff Matthews</a>, respectively Executive Director and Director of Venture Strategy and Research at the Space Frontier Foundation, both have some big ideas (and even bigger plans) for the commercial human presence in space, and speaking with them shed a great deal of light on where we are headed.
<h2>The Problem-Solver and the Moneyman</h2>
NewSpace, for those of you not “in the know,” is that spectacular and long-anticipated sea change that’s recently convulsed the tech industry—the pioneering efforts of private companies in providing low-cost access to space.  <a href="https://futurism.com/videos/watch-360-video-spacexs-rocket-landing-droneship/">We’ve all seen the rousing footage of reusable rockets landing at sea</a>, or inflatable modules docked to the International Space Station; but if my talk with Hannah and Jeff is any indication—the best is decidedly yet to come.
First, a few words about Hannah Kerner and Jeff Matthews.  Their passion for space and their enthusiasm for the good works of the Space Frontier Foundation are genuine and obvious; their knowledge about all things NewSpace—its outlook and the problems confronting it, together with the opportunities awaiting it—is profound and clearly the product of great familiarity with the topic.
So it’s wise to listen very carefully to what they have to say about the prospects and future of human spaceflight, and it’s a little like eavesdropping on the guarded talk of the industry’s most prescient oracles.
As Executive Director of the Space Frontier Foundation, and with a background in engineering and computer science, Hannah approaches the issue of the human development of space from a scientific standpoint. As someone who wants to solve problems, she saw space as affording endless opportunities to do just that.
Furthermore, she rejected the seeming false choice between space and her other great passion—humanitarian issues.  Inspired by the efforts of groups using space imagery to locate mass graves and catalogue genocidal depredations, she realized that the causes of space development and fostering human rights were not mutually exclusive.
Ever since, she’s been committed to the idea of space as a powerful tool to right wrongs and empower the oppressed, and as an instrument for giving all human beings a rightful voice in the affairs of our planet.
Jeff, on the other hand, approaches the matter from a very different direction.  Space, you might say, is in his DNA. His grandfather was involved in Project Mercury, during NASA’s heyday in the 1960s, and he grew up listening to stories about that exciting time.  It was part of the air he breathed, so to speak, and he wanted to contribute in any way he could.
So he made the obvious choice for any space enthusiast: He became a finance major.
It’s a decision that’s stood him—and, for that matter, the private space industry—in good stead at the Space Frontier Foundation.  As Director of Venture Strategy and Research, he’s heading up a new initiative called the <a href="https://newspace.spacefrontier.org/investors/">NewSpace Venture Labs</a>—a virtual accelerator aimed at encouraging innovation in the NewSpace sector.
“Our goal,” Jeff explains, “is to empower NewSpace enthusiasts, investors and entrepreneurs to transform innovative ideas into launch-ready ventures.” Enter the NewSpace 2016 conference.
<h2>Getting From Here to There</h2>
Traditionally, the NewSpace conferences have been held in Silicon Valley—a very natural choice for marshaling the financial resources, technological innovation, and intellectual heft needed to solve the challenges posed by space.  But now, for the first time, the conference has moved beyond the borders of the Golden State, reflecting the unprecedented growth that NewSpace is currently experiencing.
And it makes sense that Seattle should be the first of these new aerospace technology clusters.  It already possesses, in Boeing and Microsoft, the requisite knowledge base and intellectual capital to support private space activities—there’s even been some poaching, Jeff informed me, of Nintendo employees.
But Seattle’s chiefest contribution to the industry is its status as a hub for middle-market companies that provide support services and technologies—communications, software development, spacecraft components manufacturing, data analysis, and many others.  These are the real enablers of private spaceflight, allowing companies to focus on their core competencies without having to build up a cumbersome support infrastructure from scratch.
“Being a space company does not mean you need to have hardware in space,” Hannah explains. “There’s so much more to it.”
That’s where NewSpace 2016 comes into the picture.  It’s one of the only conferences that gathers the many components of the NewSpace equation into one room—space entrepreneurs, technology developers, enthusiasts, and investors.
Like a meddlesome but well-intentioned matchmaker, it marries capital to the startups that need it most, and creates opportunities to form fruitful partnerships—in other words (and forgive the mixed metaphors), it introduces the commercial space industry’s right hand to its left, and makes sure they’re both firmly on the same page.
<h2>NewSpace Today—and Tomorrow</h2>
When I asked Hannah and Jeff to share their thoughts on the future of the private space industry, I was a little surprised by their answers. There was no talk of generation ships, terraforming planets, or epic journeys through wormholes to explore distant black holes.
They were concerned instead with the homely, unromantic business of simply getting out there—building the infrastructure and support industries to underwrite all those lofty dreams of transforming humankind into a truly interplanetary species.
The struggle in the past for the commercial space industry was simply getting into space, but the success of SpaceX and others has meant that this formerly consuming challenge no longer has quite the same cachet that it used to.
“It’s not a solved problem,” Hannah says, “but it’s a handled one.”
<iframe width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sYmQQn_ZSys?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
And that means searching for some new problems to handle.  The foremost of these is constructing the requisite infrastructure in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to pave the way for the really exciting stuff in deep space.  Right now, it’s a restrictive bottleneck; NASA holds all the “water rights” in LEO, and it’s not likely to relinquish them anytime soon—at least not without a fight.
But when once private industry figures out how to build a sustainable infrastructure and economy in LEO…it’s Katie bar the door, because the possibilities are endless and not even the sky’s the limit.
“It’s not as difficult to be a space company anymore,” Jeff explains, “but there’s still a lot that needs to be done, and I think if we start filling in the space infrastructure…you really start opening up a lot of interesting aspiration opportunities, a lot of interesting business cases, and the people that are now getting a lot of press, like <a href="http://www.planetaryresources.com/#home-intro">Planetary Resources</a> and those companies, it really starts to make them a lot more viable as a business—especially from the asteroid-mining perspective.”
<figure id="attachment_32084" style="width: 347px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2016/04/160411-ba330.jpg"><img class=" wp-image-32084" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2016/04/160411-ba330.jpg" alt="Bigelow Space Habitat" width="347" height="277" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Bigelow Space Habitat</figcaption></figure>
Hannah and Jeff envision the evolution of a “hub-and-spoke” model, similar to that used by the airline industry, for jumping off from the Earth into deep space; already, we’re starting to see the first tentative steps toward assembling a support base and economic system in LEO, with <a href="http://www.madeinspace.us">Made In Space</a> looking to create 3D printing manufactories in zero-g, and <a href="https://futurism.com/vacations-space-bigelow-aerospace-ula-announce-first-commercial-space-station/">Bigelow Aerospace already successfully testing their inflatable, modular space station components</a>.
If they succeed, it’ll mean a revolution in space exploration—just hitch a ride into space, and you’ve got everything you need right there to get you where you ultimately want to go.
But the biggest near-term opportunities for space startups are not where you’d expect.  There’s an enormous unmet need for information from space—acquiring, analyzing, assimilating and making easily accessible the huge amounts of data streaming in from all the current and soon-to-be satellites and sensors circling the Earth.
“I think there’s a demand for people to do something with that data,” Hannah observes. “There’s so much data but very few companies working on tools to make useful predictions from it, or build dashboards that people can use this data with.”
Companies like <a href="http://www.atlasground.com">Atlas Space Operations</a> are already shouldering the burden of space communications, allowing other operations to focus on their key technological innovations; and this is where a general technological hub like Seattle has an important role to play.  With its huge and diverse pool of talent, it’s possible to supply the know-how to fill virtually any gap in the space infrastructure spectrum.
<h2>Where It’s All Headed</h2>
But what about the “big picture”—perhaps the biggest picture of all? What is the point of it all, and what is humankind’s ultimate destiny in space?
For Hannah, the conquest of space—despite the martial metaphor—is about ridding ourselves of warfare and the wasteful destruction of life.  It’s not about creating some interplanetary New Atlantis where all conflict ceases to exist; it’s about channeling those instincts into healthier avenues, and putting them to work for the betterment of the species.
“I see exploration as something that unites humans and steps us out of that way of thinking about relatively petty things,” she says.
<iframe width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zpZHUjKnDpE?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
“We live in this enormous expanding universe, and it’s incredible that we’re even capable of understanding these concepts as puny humans.  I think through exploring space together as multiple nations, we kind of break down that idea of conflict between nations, and really unlock the power of what humans can do.”
Jeff sees our future in space, not as an insurmountable challenge, but as something that will become commonplace and an indispensable part of our lives—a communal undertaking with an enormous capacity to change our way of life for the better.
“If you look at space movies, and a lot of TV shows, it always focuses on the lone challenge of space—you get The Martian, you get Interstellar, all fantastic movies, but it’s all about a small group of people pushing it.  My goal is looking more toward something that you see in The Expanse, for example, where space is just an everyday part of everyone’s lives.”
I think it’s safe to say that the work that Hannah Kerner, Jeff Matthews, and the Space Frontier Foundation are doing is taking us a long way toward making both visions a reality.  Right now, it’s baby steps, and the NewSpace 2016 conference in Seattle is one of the earliest and most tentative.
But it’s those first steps that are the most important.  See for yourself what the Space Frontier Foundation is doing <a href="https://spacefrontier.org">here</a>, and find a way to participate in this next great human adventure—if you’re so inclined.  And you can learn a little more about NewSpace 2016 <a href="https://newspace.spacefrontier.org">here</a>.

Advancements in technology and private space industry have, in a very real way, brought the cosmos truly within reach. In the past two years alone, humanity has developed reusable rockets and ventured to one of the most distant worlds in our solar system. And the revolution is only just beginning. 

/Private Space Industry

3D Printed Rockets

UK Startup Shows Off World’s Largest 3D Printed Rocket Engine

Off World

The US Has Tons of Spaceports But Not Enough Launches

Off World

A Glimpse of Our Future in Space

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