CAN A SPACE “MEGAFUND” MOVE HUMANITY CLOSER TO BECOMING A MULTI-PLANETARY SPECIES‪?‬

Authors: Dr. Helmut Kessler, Justin McCarthy, Dr. Cas Milner, Michael Potter & Chris Stott

Here we present a case for funding space development projects -- commercially viable, and riskier projects -- with a financially engineered, risk managed “megafund.” This work is partially inspired by the work of others who have explored the potential benefits of a megafund in achieving the development goals of capital intensive, high risk and high reward enterprises in other industries. Andrew Lo (National Academies of Sciences, “How Financial Engineering Can Cure Cancer”) has argued that a $30 Billion megafund could help bring cancer drugs to the marketplace in a financially more efficient fashion. Could this kind of funding initiative accelerate space development? Our goal is opening energy and resource development of space, enabling the human race to become a multi-planetary species. Such examples of these opportunities include: the development of space elevators for cost-efficient access to orbit, resource extraction (asteroid mining), and space-based solar power generation for Earth-based consumption.  In addition, we suggest funding the International Space Station (ISS) as a technology incubator: a properly utilised space laboratory in orbit such as the ISS has the possibility to accelerate microgravity research for the biotech, nanotech, artificial intelligence, robotics, material sciences, and other sectors.  Indeed, immediate financial support and commercial use of the US Laboratory could be viewed as a prototypical example of how a larger megafund might work.