Category Archives: Space Development

Lunar Orbital Facility Location Options

Posted on April 16, 2016 by Jonathan Goff

For travel throughout cislunar space, I’ve long been an advocate of having depots on both ends of the journey. The LEO depot provides a refueling stop at the first practical point after leaving the ground, and also a spot for … Continue reading →

Posted in Lunar Exploration and Development, Propellant Depots, Space Development, Space Transportation | 18 Comments

ESIL-8 Elements of Lunar Commerce Presentation

Posted on April 7, 2016 by Jonathan Goff

I was invited to give a talk on lunar commerce at a Emerging Space Industry Leaders workshop last week hosted by ULA at their Centennial, Colorado campus, and put on by my friends at Advanced Space LLC and the FAA … Continue reading →

Posted in Altius Space Machines, Business, Commercial Space, ISRU, Launch Vehicles, Lunar Commerce, Lunar Exploration and Development, MHD Aerobraking and TPS, NASA, NEOs, Propellant Depots, Space Development, Space Settlement, Space Transportation, SpaceX, Technology, ULA, Variable Gravity | 36 Comments

Why the Moon?

Posted on May 29, 2015 by Jonathan Goff

In spite of my interest in the Asteroid Redirect Mission, I’m still a firm believer that the Moon has a major role to play in space settlement. While Mars and Venus (at the cloud level) may have atmospheres more conducive … Continue reading →

Posted in Commercial Space, International Space Collaboration, ISRU, Lunar Commerce, Lunar Exploration and Development, NASA, NEOs, Space Development, Space Exploration, Space Settlement, Space Transportation, Venus | 14 Comments

Top 10 Reasons Why Something ARM-like Is Worth Doing

Posted on January 14, 2015 by Jonathan Goff

[Up-front Disclaimer: My space startup is being paid under the Asteroid Redirect Mission BAA to do a study contract on one possible way to do the Option B mission. Even though we’re not dependent on follow-on work, I figured it … Continue reading →

Posted in Commercial Crew, International Space Collaboration, ISRU, Lunar Exploration and Development, NASA, NEOs, Space Development, Space Exploration | 25 Comments

Random Thought: Dragon V2 as an xGRF Platform?

Posted on January 2, 2015 by Jonathan Goff

Review: How Much Gravity Do We Need, and Why Do We Care? One of my hobby horses that I’ve blogged about a few times is the question of how much gravity do humans need to be healthy? As I’ve pointed … Continue reading →

Posted in Commercial Crew, Commercial Space, NASA, Space Development, Space Settlement, Space Tethers, SpaceX, Variable Gravity | 35 Comments

Integral Payload Fairing Habitats

Posted on October 14, 2014 by Jonathan Goff

In the spirit of my previous post promoting healthy, competitive industries, I wanted to toss out an idea I’ve had for several years about an alternative to inflatable structures for providing large volume pressurized space facilities. The idea is a … Continue reading →

Posted in Bigelow Aerospace, Commercial Space, Space Development | 12 Comments

Space Business Blog Article on NewSpace Startup Accelerators

Posted on December 13, 2013 by Jonathan Goff

Normally I don’t just do a blog post linking to another blog post, but Colin Doughan’s article on NewSpace startup accelerators over on the Space Business Blog is well worth reading. Colin’s a good friend I’ve known for several years, … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Commercial Space, Entrepreneurship, Space Development | Leave a comment

Venus ISRU: Condenseables [Updated]

Posted on December 5, 2013 by Jonathan Goff

[Note: Karl caught an important oversight in the comments. With a concentration of 150ppm and a boiling point of only -10C, Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) should also be considered a condenseable. It’s dew point is likely pretty close to water’s. So … Continue reading →

Posted in ISRU, Space Development, Space Settlement, Venus | 19 Comments

Venus ISRU: What Do We Have to Work With?

Posted on November 20, 2013 by Jonathan Goff

In the last mini blog-post, we talked about some of the benefits of atmospheric-feedstock ISRU. But that leads to the question, what materials are there in the Venusian atmosphere, particularly in and around the 50km zone? While chemical engineering may … Continue reading →

Posted in ISRU, Space Development, Space Settlement, Venus | 54 Comments

Venus ISRU: Benefits of Atmospheric Feedstocks

Posted on November 19, 2013 by Jonathan Goff

The concept of in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) has long been an important one for space settlement. The more one can “live-off-the-land”, the less one has to bring with them, the more affordable settlement becomes. If one can lower the cost … Continue reading →

Posted in ISRU, Space Development, Space Settlement, Venus | Leave a comment