Space Settlement Policy Paper Available (full text) orgs

"Near Term Policy and Research Priorities to Enable the First Space Settlement,"by Al Globus, June 2019. Policy Forum on Space Settlement, An Examination of Policy Options, International Space Development Conference, 2019 Arlington, VA. This paper discusses the policy, research, and development needed to build the first space settlement in Equatorial Low Earth Orbit that are unlikely to be developed by general technological improvement or by the market created by space hotels.AbstractWe present a number of preliminary policy options and research directions intended to enable construction of the first space settlement starting in two or three decades. Most of the necessary technology development can be driven by either Earthbound applications or the construction and operation of a series of ever more capable space hotels as space hotel requirements are very similar to those of space settlements.This paper examines policy options for the necessary development that will not be catalyzed by terrestrial needs or space hotels. The options include making space settlement an official goal for the relevant agencies, developing launchers a factor of 20 or more less expensive than today, and debris cleanup.We will also describe an applied research program to better understand the Equatorial Low Earth Orbit (ELEO) radiation environment, space farms, psychosocial issues, and unique settlement construction and operation issues.This and many other of my papers are available athttp://space.alglobus.net/