In an attempt to open the space frontier to private human activity,
and to destroy the myth that space is owned by any government or
any government agency, two international space organizations will
announce a $250,000 "Cheap Access to Space" (CATS) Prize on
November 7th at "Space Frontier Conference VI" in Los Angeles.
The conference, with the theme "Space: Open for Business", will be
held at the Los Angeles Sheraton Gateway Hotel from November 7-9,
1997. A central topic will be the transformation of space from a
government program to a real frontier driven by commercial
development. The conference will feature frank discussions about
privatizing the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station.
There will also be presentations on new commercial markets, such as
the emerging space tourism industry, recent plans to privately capture
and mine asteroids, and proposals to use space solar power to
compete with today's coal and nuclear energy systems.
The formal announcement of the $250,000 CATS prize will be made
at a press conference and reception on Friday, November 7 at 7 pm.
The prize will be awarded to the first private team to launch a 2
kilogram payload to an altitude of 200 km or greater. Conference
attendees and members of the press may attend the reception. The
rules for the competition, and other details, will be announced at
this time.
The Space Frontier Foundation, an international space policy and
media organization, will manage the competition and is holding
the prize which has been funded by the Foundation for the
International Non-Governmental Development of Space (FINDS),
a private 7 million dollar endowment. "Governments don't open
frontiers, people do" stated Foundation President and FINDS
Executive Director Rick N. Tumlinson. "Prizes have been used
throughout history to foster innovation in the private sector. From
the age of exploration to Lindberg they have inspired imaginations
and helped knock down barriers."
A special all-day session on Friday, November 7, sponsored by the
U.S. Air Force's Phillips Laboratory, will focus on radical
innovations in spaceplane technologies and services being offered
by the new generation of entrepreneurial rocket companies. The
conference is being co-sponsored by the ProSpace, the "Citizen's
Space Lobby."
Guest speakers will include such notables as former astronauts
turned entrepreneurs "Buzz" Aldrin (Apollo 11), Charles "Pete"
Conrad (Apollo 12) and Dr. Harrison Schmitt (Apollo 17), Mars
advocate and author Dr. Robert Zubrin, asteroid resources expert
Dr. John Lewis (University of Arizona), world-renowned robot
builder Red Whitaker (Carnegie Mellon University), NASA's
John Mankins (NASA/HQ), and former congresswoman Andrea
Seastrand.
"Whether you are an investor, an entrepreneur, a space reporter, or
working on a movie about our future, this is the one place to be this
year," advises Tumlinson, who has testified multiple times before
Congress on space commercialization issues. "It's like the day
before the computer revolution. This stuff is real, it's beginning
right now, and it will soon change our civilization forever."
The Space Frontier Foundation is a not-for-profit organization that
has been fighting since 1988 to change how we all think about,
and attempt to open, the space frontier. Our goal is the near term and
irreversible expansion of the human race into space, and the
permanent settlement of the high frontier.
Registration for this 3-day conference is $90, or $70 for students.
Registration will open at 8 a.m. on Friday, November 7th. The
Sheraton Gateway Hotel is located at 6101 West Century Boulevard
near Los Angeles International Airport (310-642-1111).
For more detailed information on the conference visit our web site
at: <http://www.space-frontier.org>. For information on the
Space Frontier Foundation, or to receive press credentials, call
1(800) 78-SPACE. Our Email address is: OpenFrontier@Delphi.com
Ben Muniz, Director of Public Affairs
Space Frontier Foundation
Space Frontier Conference VI, 7-9 Nov 1997, Los Angeles, CA @ LAX
see <http://www.space-frontier.org/EVENTS/SFC-VI/> for details
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Arjen Kamphuis | Learn as if you will live forever.
mountain@knoware.nl | Live as though you will die tomorrow.