In October 1957, science fiction became reality: Sputnik, the first messenger of the Earth, went into space. Since then, progress has been relentlessly moving forward. People, men and women, have repeatedly visited space, conducted research, perhaps even loved each other. We are used to seeing a testing ground for scientists in space, but can it become more useful for humanity in the future? Will we one day be able to economically benefit from industrial activities in space, for example, in the form of space factories that take advantage of microgravity?
Governments funding expensive space missions have long been looking for ways to generate economic returns. In the late 1990s, NASA welcomed any initiative claiming it could extract money from space. In the course of this financial incentive, many statements about the creation of an orbital industry emerged. The lack of gravity would allow the growth of the protein crystals needed to fight cancer, they said. New materials produced in zero gravity will have new useful properties, they said. And much more.
However, the costs of launching materials and necessary equipment, processing ingredients and then returning to Earth gradually showed that these ideas are not economically viable. The cost of sending cargo into space is approaching the cost of gold per kilogram. As a result, it turns out that any production and processing in space will be too expensive to be worth doing at all. Are there any changes coming?
Near future
We already have certain opportunities for industrial space exploration on the International Space Station. It revolves around the Earth 16 times a day, and has about six astronauts on board. A wide range of biology and physics experiments are performed on the ISS every day - in fact, the ISS is a microgravity laboratory. Many of these experiments generate industry-specific information.
As one example, understanding how molten metals flow when casting complex shapes requires measurements of metal properties near the melting point. This is best done with samples floating in microgravity. The findings will improve the future economics and reliability of casting on Earth. Microgravity conditions are an important tool in understanding the physical and biological processes occurring on Earth.
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Recently, the European Space Agency approached the industry in search of new ideas for commercial participation in the ISS. Most of the proposals focused on providing low-cost access to the ISS using simplified equipment rather than new industrial processes. So the industry gets a chance to get involved and try out new ideas, but in general its focus is on finding cheap ways to reach and leave space, not to mention doing business in microgravity.
ISS lifetime is limited. ESA will decide on the extension of the ISS's service life in December this year, together with NASA, and most likely, the station will operate until 2024. It will then go out of orbit and be destroyed by 2030.
The next step beyond the ISS is currently being discussed under the bizarre title of Deep Space Habitat (DSH). It should be a temporary colony, remote from the Earth and even from the low Earth orbit on which the ISS floats. It will be built using hardware leftover from the ISS and will process materials from the vicinity of the Moon or asteroids to keep this environment running, thereby reducing the cost of maintaining it. First of all, they will pay attention to water and oxygen, since they need about 30 kilograms per person per day.
Far future
Further space exploration missions will receive a significant boost from the processing of materials on asteroids - especially if they can be used to produce rocket fuel or building materials from them - but that will not be soon. Current proposals include asteroid development, which promises long-term economic benefits for everyone. Materials found on asteroids are found on the surface of many planets, but in the latter case, their extraction and processing will be more expensive than any other option. Missions are currently being planned to develop resources on the Moon, the Mars satellite Phobos and other celestial objects, but their implementation will begin no earlier than ten years.
We have yet to identify many of the materials that can be created in microgravity and will find serious applications everywhere. There are plenty of opportunities. The creation of solid foam by introducing gases into a mixture of molten glass and cooling this mass under microgravity conditions (without gravitational separation of components) will create a building material with the strength of steel and the corrosion resistance inherent in glass. However, it is more likely that the product of such factories will go to the production of other factories and space stations.
Dozens of years ago, people dreamed of "space colonies" far from the Earth. They had to be independent from the Earth in times of crisis and would have self-sustaining systems. Sputnik, the ISS, and then Deep Space Habitat are all steps towards such colonies. After their creation, perhaps, it is on them that we will rely in the process of life, moving further and further from the Earth.
ILYA KHEL