When NewSpace Global (NSG) launched in 2011, it tracked approximately 125 companies in the NewSpace industry. Today, NSG analysts cover nearly 600 companies around the world. In addition to the ubiquitous SpaceX, Orbital Sciences, and Virgin Galactic, there are hundreds of innovative companies from university or garage-born start-ups to Fortune 500s, building potentially world-changing products or services developed in or for space. This talk will start by providing an introduction to the unique characteristics that define NewSpace. Then, by examining the innovations of the recent past and forecasting such exciting developments into the near future, we will come to understand how NewSpace is emerging as today's great innovation economy.

Event Date: 2/26/2014

Since Alan Shepard's historic flight in 1961, NASA human space exploration's mission has been reinvented several times to meet the needs and address the opportunities of its changing environment. This talk will examine the “trajectory" of human space exploration from its storied past into its emerging future, a future shaped by its role in the commercial development of space to pursue enduring national interests, to enhance the sustainability of the exploration enterprise and, ultimately, to expand permanent human presence beyond low Earth orbit.

Event Date: 2/5/2014

As many nations explore the utilization of space, the issue of a country's liability for its space activities becomes critical. Current agreements were decided via treaties in the 1960s and 70s, but they focus on nation-to-nation liability. As private space companies become more prevalent, liability issues are becoming more complex. In 1988, Congress addressed some issues relevant to commercial space operators, but the relationship between spaceflight participants and would-be commercial human space operators was left open. States have attempted to fill the void, but politics and policy quickly interjected. The ways risk, liability, and indemnification are distributed is steeped in national notions of personal responsibility, entrepreneurial spirit, support for the industry, and questions of social cost, as well as political and financial clout. All of these factors contribute to the current space law landscape in the U.S. Carminati will illuminate this legal landscape and how it impacts the developing commercial space industry.

Event Date: 11/19/2013