Is space a source of innovation? Costs and benefits of spaceflight

Munich, 19 September 2023
Space is a source of wonder: people are fascinated by the images taken by the James Webb Space Telescope and by plans for the next moon landing. But is spaceflight actually worth it? Does it drive innovations that help to advance humankind? “acatech am Dienstag” was held as part of Science Year 2023 “Our Universe” and in cooperation with “Wissenschaft kontrovers”, at which experts discussed the costs and benefits to society of spaceflight.
Moderator Jeanne Rubner opened the evening event with her personal view: spaceflight, said the science journalist with many years’ experience, is on a roll at the moment and public perception is extremely positive. From the plans to fly to the moon to private spaceflight projects, the topic of space is giving people plenty to talk about. However, the aim of this event was to look beyond the hype and make a level-headed assessment of the actual benefit of spaceflight.
In his talk, acatech President Jan Wörner, who served as Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA) from 2015 to 2021, first went into the contribution of spaceflight in the global context. He pointed out that the aerospace industry absolutely does hold potential solutions for today’s urgent challenges – climate change, migration, mobility and energy. For example, climate change was first discovered on Venus, where the greenhouse effect led to the evaporation of all the water. The findings made based on these observations have helped to better understand climate change on Earth. Earth observation satellites and the European navigation system GALILEO have made a contribution to climate action and environmental protection: flight paths can be optimised in real time to eliminate contrails, which lessens the impact of aviation. Furthermore, human space exploration in particular has a unifying aspect: time and time again it has built bridges between nations despite international conflicts and competition. The idea of a borderless Europe comes into particularly sharp focus from the point of view of space, where “European astronauts” work together for the sake of a “United Space in Europe”. Jan Wörner called for the further strengthening of cooperation and collaboration in space exploration and to set aside national interests on joint missions.
The talk given by acatech member Johannes Weyer from TU Dortmund revolved around the question, “Can (should) space exploration help to tackle climate change?”. In his analysis he drew a sharp distinction between astronautic and robotic missions. Certainly, many useful accomplishments have been made in the latter area in particular: navigation, communication and Earth observation would not be possible without satellites. He called for a new paradigm of spaceflight: instead of venturing further and further into the universe, space exploration should be pursued as a programme to save the planet. Earth observation and satellites could make an important contribution to climate protection. In contrast, Johannes Weyer cast serious doubt on the benefit of space tourism and moon bases, since neither is compatible with the targets of climate neutrality.
This led to a discussion on innovations that stemmed from human space exploration, such as the cordless drill and sleepsuit that can help in preventing Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. However, investment in spaceflight is out of all proportion to the economic value of these innovations. Nevertheless, the positive effect of people’s fascination with space and joint space missions cannot be disregarded, Jan Wörner added.
Max Gulde, CEO and founder of Constellr GmbH, illustrated very clearly the importance of Earth observation in times of climate change. He drove home just how essential water is for life by showing that only 0.025 per cent of the water on Earth is accessible. Of this, 70 per cent is used in agriculture. One major problem with this is the inefficient use of this resource – 60 per cent of the water used in agriculture is lost. Irrigation will not always be possible if water becomes scarcer, so this resource must be used as efficiently as possible. Max Gulde went on to say that crop losses should be minimised by not allowing plants to suffer water stress. The plants are under stress even before they show any visible signs of damage – the rate of transpiration drops, cooling decreases and the plants heat up. Easy-to-apply solutions must be found due to the huge area of land used for agriculture (more than 10 billion hectares). Satellite infrared cameras can be used to determine exactly the irrigation requirements of a field, which would work out much cheaper than installing sensors in every field, pasture and piece of woodland. This is a promising approach, as a trial conducted on the International Space Station (ISS) showed.
In the subsequent discussion, the panel agreed that satellites are becoming more and more important for Earth observation in order to better survey and understand Planet Earth. A digital twin of the Earth, based on real-time data, such as surface temperatures, air humidity, ocean salinity and air quality, could be developed. Of course, the satellite power system should be as climate-friendly as possible and the use of kerosene to fuel rocket launches should be avoided. Green hydrogen could be an option instead. International coordination remains a key factor in space exploration – and, indeed, is essential to reduce undesired side effects such as space debris and the proliferation of space tourism.
Images of the event