The sustained expansion of human space activities requires the synergy of many independently developed systems and their enabling intellectual diversity. The prevailing approach of government funded, defense technology derived, space development programs alone is not capable of achieving sustained growth. National leadership and priorities vary on time scales much shorter than typical space system development cycles. Intellectual continuity is compromised by long development timelines, and the associated drifting of program focus. Entrepreneurial efforts have demonstrated shortened development timeframes,

The Current State of Space Development

In the 60s ad 70s there were several large and thriving aerospace companies in the US actively pursuing space launch projects at all scales. Over the next three decades, the industry contracted sharply through repeated mergers which left only two companies (Lockheed Martin, the Boeing Company) involved in launch vehicle development of a scale that could allow interplanetary missions. In 2006, these two companies formed a single entity (United Launch Alliance), eliminating any remnants of competition or technological diversity.

Shown in the image is an overview of human  launch vehicle programs conducted by  the US government from 1960 until
today. The horizontal axis shows  time (years), and  the vertical axis shows  the Technology Readiness Level (TRL)
achieved by  the  time  the program concluded (or was canceled). Technology Readiness Level  is a measure used by NASA and other United  States  government  agencies  to  assess  the maturity  of  evolving  technologies  and  systems  based  on  them. What the chart shows is a trend towards both shorter (in time) and less mature development programs as time pro-
gresses.

More recently, a significant number of small entrepreneurial space companies have emerged. However, these com-panies are either dependent on government funding, or forced to pursue near-term profit opportunities such as the potential suborbital tourism market. While the enthusiasm and expertise of these organizations is beyond question, the realities of operating as a small business in a highly resource-intensive industry leave them with limited opportunities for growth.

Last but not least, there are a number of very popular grassroots space organizations, both in the United States and globally. Established online discussion forums are filled with thousands of opinion pieces on how human space programs should be improved, and national organizations gather membership from amateur space enthusiast to former astronauts. These organizations serve the important functions of educating the general public, and advising national policy makers; however, they do not have the aim to realize space programs of their own. While their work is impor-tant and commendable, it depends on the actions of other entities (government & private space companies) to im-plement any specific recommendations – and these are again curtailed by the aforementioned challenges.

Space Development by Open Collaboration

What is needed to improve on the current state of human space efforts, is an open - yet organized -  collaboration of space proponents (of which there are many), regardless of location, affiliation, availability of financial resources, or formal education - Open-Aerospace.Org (OAO) has the aim of making this vision a reality. Ideally, this effort will not be influenced by political agendas, there will be no need to defend or justify its existence, and it will not be burdened by the need to generate profit. While this may sound hopelessly idealistic and naïve, there exists a precedence for this type of collaborative effort that has been extraordinarily successful: open source software development.

Openness - the term “open source” is used to describe an approach to the design, development, and distribution of software, while providing access to the source code as well as the final product. This enables groups of people to create software with the features and capabilities they desire, unfettered by the influences that hamper the orthodox production-for-profit approach. The fundamental idea of open-source development is to provide products together with the means used to create them. It thereby encourages collaboration, learning, and the advancement of ideas, which is in contrast to the concept of “Intellectual Property” that seeks to protect the means to create, and maintains a competitive advantage through source control rather than superior execution of capability. Open-source development thereby imitates one of the most fruitful and beneficial of all human endeavors: science.

Openness is also a key aspect of science, which is essentially the process of posing hypotheses and then verifying or disproving them; it is an open and self correcting system. Because of this, progress can occur at a faster rate and in a more dependable / predictable fashion. The speed of progress is greatly enhanced by the practitioners publishing both results and methodology. This helps to introduce others into the field, enables learning from examples and past mistakes, and it makes it possible for anybody to verify or refute the results (or techniques) being proposed. New-ton’s famous comment about 'standing on the shoulders of giants' alluded to this aspect of science and how openness is a key component to enable sustained growth. OAO adopts this commitment to openness as one of its most fundamental values. All of the material generated by its community is published under the “OAO Publication License”. OAO retains the rights to all material contributed by its community for the sole purpose of ensuring unlimited distribution. The only limitation imposed is that of peaceful use, which prohibits the use of OAO material for the development of systems with primary military applications.

Organization - the second element required to enable the envisioned collaboration is a method of organization. Drawing both from the traditional and the innovative, OAO combines two very powerful tools to enable a well organized effort: System Engineering and the “Web 2.0”.

System Engineering means different things to different people; at OAO it is used to describe a process that helps with breaking down a complex problem into smaller (more manageable) pieces, while keeping track of how these pieces need to fit together in the final solution. The process of finding the optimal solution to any given problem is broken into two phases: (1) problem definition, and (2) problem solution. In the first phase, we define what exactly the problem is; what specific conditions the solution has to comply with, what makes one solution better than the other, and what options we have to solve the problem. In the second phase, we implement the process of finding the optimal solution within the constraints of the problem we have defined. This process is fractal in nature: it repeats at different levels of scale. As the problem is broken down into many sub-problems, more people are able to contribute to the solution. The solution at any given level then becomes the problem definition for the next level, and so on.

"Web 2.0" refers to the second generation of web development and web design that greatly enhances information sharing and collaboration on the web.  The availability of Web 2.0 applications led to the evolution of web-based communities, social-networking sites, blogs, etc. The key element of the Web 2.0 revolution is that end users (read-ers) are now also the prime content producers. Only basic computing skills are required for anyone to contribute content which is shared with the intended community. One of the most powerful types of Web 2.0 applications is the “Wiki”. A wiki is a website that allows the easy creation and editing of interlinked pages from within the browser; the collaborative encyclopedia Wikipedia is one of the best-known examples. OAO uses a customized wiki applica-tion to enable anybody with the means to view OAO material to also contribute to its creation. The OAO site is or-ganized into three main sections, each of which serves a specific function.

Conclusion: a Call to Action

Since the accomplishments of the Apollo Moon landings, human spaceflight efforts have been met with limited success and criticisms of wastefulness and unnecessary risk. US government spaceflight programs since the Space Shuttle exhibit  a trend of decreasing duration and progress level before termination, while the space industry has sharply contracted through the merging of previously independent competitors. In contrast, grassroots support for the endeavor of human spaceflight remains strong, and many small entrepreneurial space business have been suc-cessful in carving out niche sectors of the aerospace industry. However, grassroots space advocacy groups and small aerospace businesses remain limited in what they can accomplish, acting as advisory bodies to the government or depending on government funds to conduct their activities.

This article introduces an approach to offering the global community of space enthusiasts a new way of contributing to the realization of human spaceflight. This approach combines traditional system engineering with the concepts of openness on a Web 2.0 wiki platform. A space transportation architecture is developed based on established system engineering processes, that captures the goals and objectives of the global space community, rather than being driven by national agendas or financial motivations. The effort adheres to the historically highly successful method of open science, publishing not only results of the activity, but also the methods and supporting knowledge, enabling any interested party to learn, participate, and build on the accomplishments of the community. It is the hope of the author that this article will serve as an invitation for the highly qualified scientists and engineers in this forum, but also as a challenge to make their voices heard in shaping the direction of this effort so it may best serve their interests.

History is not a spectator sport; if we want a space based society, we need to roll up our sleeves and make it real. Join the effort today at www.OpenAerospace.org