Space Development Institute

Program of Space Commercialization Retreats

The Institute intends to fund a series of small, intense retreats designed to advance space commercialization while fostering personal and professional relationships among skilled practitioners in all fields directly and indirectly related to space development. The primary purpose of these retreats is to identify and enumerate specific problems facing the commercial development of outer space, practical solutions to those problems, and detailed plans for the implementation of those solutions.

Each retreat should involve 12-15 people, all innovative, active doers from such fields as investment banking, technology, manufacturing and other appropriate private sector arenas, in addition to the executive, legislative and judiciary branches of Government; NASA, the Departments of Commerce, Transportation and State; Universities and other public and private research institutions.

Space commercialization requires complex and extensive relationships between scientists, financiers, lawyers, politicians, engineers, space activists, journalists, industrialists and economists. Their diverse skill sets need to be melded with the visionary guidance of writers and futurists. It is crucial that members of these and all appropriate groups be included in the retreats program, and that they continue to informally expand the process outside of the retreats.

The Institute's distinguishing feature is its focus on action. To be chosen, participants must have demonstrated this attribute through concrete accomplishments. Retreat participants can be drawn from all levels of their respective organizations. More important than a well recognized name are the personal desire to see space commercialized in the near-term, and a proven record of seeing and seizing difficult opportunities, of taking action and getting results.

The Institute intends to run the retreats in four stages, each focusing on a different aspect of making space commercialization a reality:

RETREAT CURRICULUM

1. OPPORTUNITY ASSESMENT What are the currently proposed space commercialization possibilities?

Space commercialization has no single meaning. Potential projects abound and voices clamor to advocate a wide variety of developmental paths. New companies and research institutes promise a host of new and improved technologies. The first round of retreats is designed to outline these possibilities. In doing so participants will separate the wheat from the chaff, the possible from the impossible and the near-term from the future.

There is no shortage of good science fiction in bookstores; what these retreats are intended to generate is science-fact. There exist any number of fine, intelligent texts outlining the future of space commercialization over decades and centuries. These are not what the Institute seeks to create. With a self-imposed myopia of ten to fifteen years, the Institute will focus exclusively on what is, or is about to happen in the field of space commercialization.

In addition to producing a document outlining these very near-term paths and possibilities, the retreats allow participants to gain valuable insights into each others' fields as they enumerate the possibilities they see for space development. The fostering of personal and professional ties across and within fields is an important aspect of each retreat.

2. PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION What obstacles block each developmental path?

The object of this round of retreats is to produce a brief document spelling out the identifiable barriers to space commercialization. These barriers may be legal, political, regulatory, financial, scientific, technological, cultural or even philosophical. Round one participants generated many different scenarios as to how space commercialization might occur in the near-term; incumbent within each of these were a wide range of present and potential problems. It is the duty of participants in this round of retreats to enumerate those problems in as much detail as is practical.

The documents produced at round two retreats give a clear picture of what problems need to be solved, and as well enable government, academia, activits, industry and other space commercializtion advocates to understand where the others are coming from. By examining how each participant approaches space commercialization problems, all participants will come away with a better understanding of how all these advocates think and what problems they face, thus facilitating an extensive, ongoing, informal network to foster future cooperation in their joint endeavors to make space commercialization happen.

3. SOLUTION DETERMINATION How can the barriers to space commercialization be overcome?

These retreats are designed to bring together participants who will analyze stage two problems. After the first two rounds of retreats, a fertile ground has been sown with a wide variety of potentially viable space commercialization possibilities and the roadblocks to their implementation. It is the job of third round participants to determine how these possibilities can be nurtured and grown, and how these roadblocks can be eliminated. Participants in this round of retreats are charged with examining each identified hurdle in detail, and formulating specific, action-oriented solutions to each.

This round of retreats should continue until all round two problems have been thus illuminated. As always, in addition to the solutions document, the fostering of a personal and professional network is an important goal of the retreat.

4. SOLUTION IMPLEMENTATION How can round three solutions be put into action?

Round four retreats differ from the previous rounds in their focus on practical recommendations and plans of action for the implementation of each. Participants attack all stage three solutions with the vigor that stage three participants attacked stage two problems. The focus here is on developing comprehensive and practical implementation roadmaps to pave the way for rapid and smooth space commercialization.

If round three participants determined that change X to regulatory structure Y would greatly facilitate the development of a needed technology or financial product, stage four participants will determine how X can be affected. What political forces can be mobilized to further the goal? What office and personnel will write a new regulation that eliminates the identified roadblock? What investment bank will be convinced to finance the new product? If there are vested political/financial/scientific interests that would counter X, how could those challenges be successfully met?

Participants will be chosen on the basis of their ability to comprehend the detailed technicalities involved in solution implementation as well as their potential power to affect implementation.

 

RETREAT LOGISTICS

RETREAT VENUE

It is crucial that participants are both relaxed and out of contact as much as is reasonable from their everyday entanglements. Retreats will be held at a variety of comfortable rustic or wilderness resorts throughout North America, allowing participants to interact in a peaceful, natural setting. The resorts provide first class accommodations as well as access to activities amenable to all participants; 'meetings' will be held in relaxed and informal venues.

RETREAT FORMAT

Retreats will be conducted with as little formality as possible. The form of the meetings will be determined by the nature of the resort. All note-taking and record keeping will be done by the Institute representative, a student or intern studying a field related to the topics under discussion. Participants may of course take notes, but they will not be required or expected to. At the end of the retreat, they will be presented with a copy of the summarized discussion notes.

RETREAT COST

Retreats are held at no cost to participants, but each participant is hand-picked by the Institute.

FUNDING SOURCES

Initial funding is being sought. Your tax-deductible contribution of any size is encouraged and welcome. For very large contributions, please call for information about ways we can recognize your generosity.

For more information, please contact: