Alliance for Commercial Enterprises in Space Formed and October Forum Announced
A team of pro-commercial space advocates has formed the Alliance for Commercial Enterprises in Space (ACES). Our goal is simple. We are organizing to break open the heavens for health and wealth on earth. Forty years of investment in the space biosciences has paid for itself many times over in life saving advances and commercially lucrative products. Recent advances in the Human Genome Project have renewed the promise of earth bound life saving and wealth generating products from space research. Other recent ground based and space flight data bear this out, with additional confirmation provided by terrestrial analogs of space flight which are increasingly used for pharmaceutical development on Earth addressing the world’s top priority medical issues.
Why space?? The value of a cell and tissue culture depends entirely on how well that culture mimics what really happens in the body. The closer the match, the more powerful a tool it is. Similarly, a cell/tissue culture that contains incorrect information is misleading and may direct researchers down blind alleys. Most terrestrial cultures do not mimic what happens in the body, or do so very incompletely. This is because cells are not smart, but they are adaptable. Give the cells the correct environmental cues and they will grow as they do in the body. Give them the wrong ones and they will usually survive but by biological mechanisms that have nothing to do with the disease under study.
Our pursuit was stimulated by the results of our first space commercial conference held on June 21st and 22nd (http://www.alliancespace.net/workshops/aces1/summary_csof1.php). During that conference it became clear that the years of steady bio-tech research performed by NASA and its international partners could be transformed into a critical demand driver for the growing commercial space industry. When we succeed, purchases of launch services and on-orbit services by our bio-tech, tourism and other commercial space industry partners will bolster the growing Low-Earth-Orbit cargo industry. Our alliance has been joined by companies and individuals interested in promoting commercial space research, development, education and outreach. Most notably, Edward James Olmos has agreed to join as ACES Education Ambassador.
On October 5, 6 and 7 we will hold our second Commercial Space Opportunities Forum. During this forum experts in space tourism, bio-tech investment, bio-tech research, public policy, space infrastructure and micro-gravity research will discover ways to catalyze this emerging industry. The Forum’s goals are to:
- Educate and inform the broader community of decision makers about the potential of commercial space opportunities.
- Bring together experts in supply, demand, capital and public policy required to grow this capability to its full potential. Identify and initiate activities that will enable the commercial space industry.
- Engage non-aerospace communities including: venture capital, philanthropic, education, biotech, tourism and media.
- Ensure that commercial space initiatives are able to take full advantage of supply, demand, capital and public policy.
For more information or to sign up for the conference go to www.alliancespace.net
