Abstract
Dear New Space Readers,
Last year, in 2021, we witnessed multiple commercial (i.e., “non-governmental”) space tourism activities both suborbitally (with Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin) and orbitally (SpaceX Inspiration4 Mission). We saw a lot of private and government investment toward innovative space capabilities created by smaller and newer companies to the space ecosystems.
The level of activity at New Space reflects this increase in commercial activity with an increase of submission to our journal, up 27.3% from 2020 to 2021, and a 32% increase in download over the same period. As mentioned last year, New Space is increasing the number of printed pages from just greater than 250 pages per year to just less than 400.
New Space starts 2022 with two special issues, featuring submitted articles on the topics of NewSpace in India and In Situ Research Utilization. Accommodation of these special issues created a backlog of submitted articles, and these will flood the pages of New Space with issues 3 and 4 of this volume. Although those articles will not be physically printed until September and December, they will be available online as soon as they pass through the review process.
Speaking of the review process, I asked all New Space reviewers to redouble their efforts to reduce the amount of time required to review submitted articles. We strive to halve the average time required to move articles from initial submission to final acceptance. This is a big job that will not be easy to accomplish, but this is our goal for 2022.
In any case, I hope you enjoy this volume and each issue in 2022. We are encouraged that we continue to see an exciting future for New Space!
Editorially yours,
Ken Davidian