Abstract
This Editorial of New Space, volume 7, issue 2, has two main purposes: first, to highlight the included articles and content that will interest our readers and other space professionals, and second, to celebrate a major milestone of the publication.
To the first purpose, New Space strives to serve a unique and diverse niche within the space community while adhering to standards of the academic journal industry. This issue includes four peer-reviewed original articles, including one “spillover” manuscript that was not included in the previous issue of New Space, featuring spaceflight participant safety research, conducted as part of the FAA's Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation. The other original articles include discussions of suborbital tourism industry viability, a biopharmaceutical nanosatellite, and a macroscopic perspective of the Indian human spaceflight program. A “Perspective” piece, detailing a program to identify and fly Germany's first female astronaut, is also included. This issue concludes with two book reviews, the first concerning space medicine and health, and the second regarding an exploration of space business.
Second, New Space is celebrating a major milestone: the transition from its founding Editor-in-Chief (EIC) to a successor. Since 2013, Dr. Scott Hubbard led New Space through its initial six years of existence. Scott has also pioneered activities within the emerging space movement. Dr. Hubbard is highly regarded within the space and scientific communities, and has ably bridged the gap to emerging space. As NASA “Mars Czar,” Director of the NASA Ames Research Center, adjunct Professor at Stanford University, member of multiple National Academy boards, the sole NASA rep to the Columbia Accident Board (conducted test to show definitive physical cause of accident), and professional-quality guitar player, Scott has an incredible network of prestigious scientists, engineers, astronauts, and artists, spanning a broad spectrum of expertise areas, and many of his connections are current members of the New Space editorial board. Scott's participation as New Space EIC has legitimized emerging space activities to established space actors, and the value of this legitimacy transfer cannot be overestimated.
Building upon the strong foundation established by Scott as New Space EIC, I have accepted the role to connect the many space communities further. The first 18 years of my professional career, at the NASA Lewis (later Glenn) Research Center, helped me build a deep professional network within the NASA “family.” My staff role at the International Space University's Summer Session Program (now called the Space Studies Program) grew my network of contacts within many international space communities. By 2001, I resigned from government service, and was exposed to nongovernmental, entrepreneurial space communities. I returned to government service in 2005, and my job was to bridge the governmental and nongovernmental space communities, especially through the Centennial Challenges prize program. Although individuals working between two communities can often be seen as outsiders by both sides, and the position can become lonely, I have never felt that way. I always derive satisfaction from connecting two disparate communities. More recently, I've interacted with an academic community, with vast experience working with civil space actors, to identify and conduct studies, bridging technical knowledge gaps, for the benefit of the nongovernmental (i.e., commercial) space industry. During the same period, I've been chairing an international committee, focused on entrepreneurship and investment in the space industry, and helping develop and lead the discussion of commercial space activities around the world.
On a personal academic level, I decided to supplement my previous engineering degrees (an aerospace bachelor's and a mechanical master's) with a doctoral degree in business (specifically management sciences or organization theory as applied to commercial space). For the past four years, I've been attending academic management conferences to introduce the management research and space engineering communities. Bringing all these communities together—nationally and internationally, government and industry, academic and practitioner, space engineering and management, cultural and technical—is important for the long-term viability of emerging commercial space sectors. Since this bridging function has also been the story of my career, working with the New Space journal, as the Associate Editor since its introduction six years ago, provided me yet another avenue for this type of “connector” work. As in any journal, the ultimate goal of the work is to facilitate a discussion that can bridge different communities. New Space is especially important because it provides this bridging function for emerging, nongovernmental, space industry sectors.
To continue being an effective bridge between the many communities of interest, New Space must effectively guide the global discussion of important issues for emerging space sectors that can greatly benefit from its content. Because the journal facilitates discussions within the space communities, I would like to invite readers to send me your ideas or areas of interest that can be explored by New Space. In conclusion, I thank Scott for his years of service and guidance, and I look forward to the engagement of all New Space readers to help guide the discussion of space entrepreneurship and innovation.