a short time, but it is likely that an evolutionary building-blocks logic is going to
be established. This is already perceptible, for example, in the creation of the US
space military force, which considers permanent, remotely located space bases
that have the implicit capacity for spaceship building with enhanced shielding for
short-term missions. Additionally, the exploration of the planetary belt for mining
purposes is a precursor of a material supply chain processed in space for the creation of mega-exo-habitats. Research on genetics, especially in Asia where bioethical constraints are less strict, is on the cusp of creating enhanced human
organisms. Artificial intelligence is also on a hyper-development trajectory; bioengineering for exo-adaptation could evolve towards the creation of hybrid cyborgs
instead. Here, research activities are already in place, pushed by military pressure.
The most likely option will be the best combination of the three technological
options.
The above issues also involve an enlarged tactical and strategic range of military conflicts in deep space. As rightly emphasized by the author, the control of
orbit as a tool of superiority on the underlying planet will require more and more
contrasting capabilities positioned in deep space that will complement the antisatellite ones launched from Earth, both from ground sites and aerial platforms.
This means that the entire solar system is a possible future battlefield. Actually,
this requires the competing powers to conquer stable positions in the solar system
itself, forcing them to solve the problem of establishing permanent defence outposts. At this point, a new research field concerns the evolution of strategic doctrines, dissuasion methods and limiting treaties of selective mutual disarmament,
which should complement the current never-respected treaty for a non-militarized
space environment.
A third new research field concerns the economic sustainability of the competition for exo-superiority. Since government budgets will not be sufficient, such
sustainability will have to be complemented by the creation of a civil space market
that will exploit both civilian and military assets in a full dual use, and will even
pay for a certain number of space missions using tools derived from military ones.
Sub-orbital tourism, as described in the book, is a precursor of this potential evolution. Other possible developments could be pursued by experimental and technological productions that cannot be made on Earth, for example on artificial
biogenetics or on new materials. Then in a few decades, an exo-economy with its
own closed-loop cycle could materialize, for example for mining and extracting
water from comets or asteroids, as well as for the in situ construction of megahabitats and the building of spaceships that are too big to be launched from Earth.
But the sustainability of such activities in a short term depends on the civilian
fallout generated by the transfer of exo-technologies to the terrestrial market, generating revenues that, directly and indirectly, provide the return on investments:
quantum computers, advanced robotics, exo-skeletons, high-power batteries, etc.
Afterword by Professor Carlo Pelanda 139
be established. This is already perceptible, for example, in the creation of the US
space military force, which considers permanent, remotely located space bases
that have the implicit capacity for spaceship building with enhanced shielding for
short-term missions. Additionally, the exploration of the planetary belt for mining
purposes is a precursor of a material supply chain processed in space for the creation of mega-exo-habitats. Research on genetics, especially in Asia where bioethical constraints are less strict, is on the cusp of creating enhanced human
organisms. Artificial intelligence is also on a hyper-development trajectory; bioengineering for exo-adaptation could evolve towards the creation of hybrid cyborgs
instead. Here, research activities are already in place, pushed by military pressure.
The most likely option will be the best combination of the three technological
options.
The above issues also involve an enlarged tactical and strategic range of military conflicts in deep space. As rightly emphasized by the author, the control of
orbit as a tool of superiority on the underlying planet will require more and more
contrasting capabilities positioned in deep space that will complement the antisatellite ones launched from Earth, both from ground sites and aerial platforms.
This means that the entire solar system is a possible future battlefield. Actually,
this requires the competing powers to conquer stable positions in the solar system
itself, forcing them to solve the problem of establishing permanent defence outposts. At this point, a new research field concerns the evolution of strategic doctrines, dissuasion methods and limiting treaties of selective mutual disarmament,
which should complement the current never-respected treaty for a non-militarized
space environment.
A third new research field concerns the economic sustainability of the competition for exo-superiority. Since government budgets will not be sufficient, such
sustainability will have to be complemented by the creation of a civil space market
that will exploit both civilian and military assets in a full dual use, and will even
pay for a certain number of space missions using tools derived from military ones.
Sub-orbital tourism, as described in the book, is a precursor of this potential evolution. Other possible developments could be pursued by experimental and technological productions that cannot be made on Earth, for example on artificial
biogenetics or on new materials. Then in a few decades, an exo-economy with its
own closed-loop cycle could materialize, for example for mining and extracting
water from comets or asteroids, as well as for the in situ construction of megahabitats and the building of spaceships that are too big to be launched from Earth.
But the sustainability of such activities in a short term depends on the civilian
fallout generated by the transfer of exo-technologies to the terrestrial market, generating revenues that, directly and indirectly, provide the return on investments:
quantum computers, advanced robotics, exo-skeletons, high-power batteries, etc.
Afterword by Professor Carlo Pelanda 139