From Space Exploration to Space Settlement: Space Renaissance International 2nd World Congress 2016 - Theses, complete acta, and the December 2016 position paper on Civilian Space Development

Space Renaissance International 2nd World Congress: “From Space Exploration to Space Settlement”. The SRI 2nd Wolrd Congress analyzed the great technological advance brought by the reusable space rockets (Space X) and by the adevent of the additive manufacturing, and approved the strategical program towards 2020: to ignite the civilian space development. An excerpt from the congress final resolution, clearly indicating our priorities. The experience of SpaceX demonstrates that private industry can de facto reach the goal of lowering the cost of the Earth-Orbit transportation of several magnitudes. And many other objectives can now be targeted, including a large industrialization of the geo-lunar space. Space tourism, and other civilian space activities, such as Space Based Solar Power, asteroids mining, advanced research settlements, will all benefit from the reduction of the Earth-Orbit launch cost. That’s why our main commitment, during next four years, will be to work for a general collaboration among the government agencies and the new space private industry. The old monopole of the traditional aerospace industry is now overcome and outmoded. We are not working for a revolution, but for a renaissance of civilization. A revolution is violent, while a Renaissance is fundamentally joyous and peaceful. The true conflict is between those who aspire to growth and change (the Renaissance), and those who want de-growth, de-industrialization, cultural involution, which will lead to the implosion of civilization. The global crisis of the closed world worsened, but the renaissance is going ahead, and aiming to space. We don’t fear robots: humans work better, more efficiently and more cost effective, in space, as taught to us by Jeff Greason. If we keep on thinking that the world is closed, it will remain so. If we instead are able to second and extend a meaningful vanguard, then the space-enabled future can be opened. The first essential step on such road is to accelerate the development and marketing of technologies for low cost civilian passenger transportation in space.