Predicting the Future of Space Tech

The European Science Federation (ESF) released a report on Thursday detailing how the European Space Agency (ESA) can make use of potential scientific and technological breakthroughs that have not even occurred yet.

The report, called TECHBREAK - short for Technological Breakthroughs for Scientific Progress - is the result of a five year investigation and foresight activity concerning potential future breakthroughs that could impact the progress of space exploration in the near future.

The joint project funded by the ESA and ESF is a "Forward Look" endeavor dedicated to identifying promising theories and predicting breakthrough scenarios that could enable various novel space missions in the 2030-2050 timeframe within reasonable assumption.

This report, "was not prepared to serve as a definitive guide for very specific technologies to be developed for future space missions but rather to inform on, and flag up, the main developments in various technological and scientific areas outside space that may hold promise for use in the space domain," the ESA explained in a press release.

According to the report, ESF investigators focused primarily on the non space sector, combing for promising and potential breakthroughs by identifying five "Overwhelming Drivers".

Projected technologies impacted these drivers - or goals for future space missions - potentially helping the space sector (1) reduce mass of flight technologies while maintain stiffness, (2) build a spacecraft and missions that can last 50 years, (3) deploy a 30m+ telescope into space, (4) enable humans to stay in space for more than 2 years, or (5) accomplish autonomous geophysical survey of planets.

The report details a great number of breakthroughs and scientific achievements approaching "borderline" success. For these technologies, if and when successful, to forward space exploration, the report's authors conclude their work by suggesting that the ESA become involved with the European Technology Platforms, as to "identify a way of following the developments in the field. Moreover, ESA might fund or join in specific development programmes."

The report was released by the ESF Forward Look project on June 3.