The Moon, Mars and Beyond: Outer Space Tourism and Converting Water to Fuel
In our latest series of interviews with space and blockchain industry thought leaders, we caught up with SpaceChain’s Chief Commercial Officer and UK Director Nick Trudgen to tap into his experience and find out about the future of the space and blockchain industries.
What is your professional background and your role at SpaceChain Foundation?
Nick: I come from a background in business development, law, and international investment. Prior to joining SpaceChain Foundation, I led the international department for a multi-national law firm in both Beijing and Shanghai. I was responsible for their international strategy, and establishing and maintaining relations with the firm’s partners as well as clients in the US, Europe, and Middle East. I also had the honor of setting up the firm’s Space Group, the first dedicated space law department within a mainland China law firm.
Being part of the founding team at SpaceChain Foundation, I’ve been leading the company’s international business development. I am responsible for establishing partnerships with private space companies and government agencies. As Director of SpaceChain UK, I also manage our team there, being the conduit for communication between the UK office and the Singapore and Beijing offices, maintaining regular contact with the relevant stakeholders in the UK such as the UK Space Agency, Deimos Space UK, and Satellite Applications Catapult.
I’m also responsible for managing SpaceChain UK’s technology development projects with the European Space Agency, and Innovate UK, and coordinating the execution of such projects with our various partners.
How does the UK office differ from the company’s other global offices? Are there different areas of focus within each center?
Nick: It goes without saying that each international office has a specialisation or area of focus that supports the company as a whole.
Our team in the UK office, based at the Satellite Applications Catapult at Harwell campus, focuses on space and blockchain technology research and development for the European market. The SpaceChain UK team is made up of well-respected engineers in the fields of software development, quantum communications, aerospace etc. The team works closely with the European Space Agency and a number of other partner organisations and companies to develop innovative technology solutions for the European space and blockchain market.
The team in the Beijing office manages technical operations within mainland China, while the team in the Singapore office is primarily responsible for handling the financial, human resources, and technical project management for the company. They also focus on developing marketing and media campaigns as well as supporting SpaceChain’s US missions such as our launching of a payload to the ISS in December 2019.
We understand that you’re fluent in Mandarin. Tell us a bit about how this has helped the company collaborate across UK-China trade and investment interests.
Nick: This is one question I get asked a lot. I must say that having a grasp of a foreign language as well as understanding the nuisances of a whole new culture is always key to immersing oneself fully into the country’s work environment.
The space industry is particularly international, with most companies and organisations collaborating with partners from across the globe and with supply chains that stem anywhere from the UK, US, China, Singapore to Europe.
SpaceChain Foundation itself has a multicultural team, and being able to speak Mandarin is extremely useful when building strong relationships with partners and stakeholders from around the world. China is becoming increasingly important as a center for innovation in both space and blockchain sectors, with world-leading initiatives such as the Tiangong space station, Chang’e lunar missions, Beidou GPS, and the announcement of the digital Renminbi, national blockchain network, and China’s leading role in blockchain-related patents at the WIPO.
Having a sound knowledge of the Chinese language definitely provides a window into this exciting market and enables SpaceChain and our international partners to collaborate more effectively.
How is the space and blockchain industry scene in the UK in terms of adoption and advancements?
Nick: When it comes to space technology, the UK is one of the world leaders, especially in the manufacturing of small satellites.
Surrey Satellite Technology (SSTL), for example, is a pioneer in the development of small satellites using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components and has achieved a range of world firsts. These include:
- The first modern microsatellite with in-orbit re-programmable computers
- First modular 50kg microsatellite design
- First satellites for South Korea, Portugal, Chile, Algeria, and Nigeria
- First microsatellite using GPS for onboard orbit determination
- First microsatellite to take multispectral earth images
- First use of propulsion on a nanosatellite
- First Galileo positioning satellite
- First in-orbit demonstration of space debris capture (most recent).
Looking towards the future, SSTL is planning the Lunar Pathfinder, a relay satellite for lunar missions that will be developed alongside the European Space Agency. We have a thriving space ecosystem centered within the Harwell space campus near Oxford, where the ESA European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications is located.
The UK also played a crucial role at the beginning of the space age, through Goonhilly Earth Station’s role in broadcasting the Apollo moon landings and communicating with Telstar. Looking forward, it is also playing a key role in the development of the New Space Economy, with British company OneWeb building a mega constellation of internet satellites in low-earth orbit. The UK is also leading the way in Europe in the development of commercial spaceports, with horizontal and vertical launch locations currently being planned at Spaceport Cornwall, Space Hub Sutherland, and the Shetland Space Centre.
In your opinion, how is the blockchain industry developing and where will it be in the next 10 years?
Nick: After many years of hype, the blockchain industry is finally reaching a level of maturity where we are seeing a number of real-world applications across various sectors.
When it comes to the space industry, SpaceChain and several other companies and organisations are developing innovative DLT solutions that leverage the potential benefits of blockchain technology. These cover the areas of transparency, efficiency, privacy, and resilience. It is definitely promising to see both NASA and the European Space Agency supporting the development of blockchain and DLT applications.
NASA, for example, recently provided funding for the development of autonomous spacecraft that utilise blockchain to minimise human involvement. The European Space Agency has also provided funding for research into how blockchain can be used to verify the integrity and provenance of Earth Observation data.
On the private enterprise front, companies such as ConsenSys Space, for example, is developing a project called TruSat which will utilise an open-source system to create a trusted distributed ledger of satellite orbital positions to help track space debris. In the US, SIMBA Chain is building a blockchain-based secure messaging and transaction platform for the Department of Defense.
Over the next 10years, we are likely to see increased adoption of DLT across the space sector supply chain, as well as efforts by the ITU, IEEE, ISO etc to create common standards and protocols to ensure the security of distributed ledger technologies.
What are the obstacles currently experienced across the blockchain industry?
Nick: Adoption of blockchain technology — on a large scale — faces significant technical and regulatory challenges.
In terms of its technology, there are issues with scalability and lack of interoperability. Also, due to blockchain’s distributed nature, transactions can be slow and inefficient, factors that limit its potential uses in real-world applications.
The main regulatory challenges relate to issues of jurisdiction. This is because blockchain’s distributed ledger can cover many locations around the world, making it difficult to establish which jurisdictions’ laws and regulations apply. Various countries have faced difficulties in applying the existing regulatory framework, in particular in relation to digital assets and fundraising.
There are also significant challenges in relation to privacy and data protection, with many arguing that blockchain technology is incompatible with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation. For example, blockchain’s core attribute of enabling peer-to-peer transactions without the need for a central intermediary conflict with the central tenet of privacy law and data protection, which requires the safeguarding of users’ privacy and data.
What excites you the most about the space industry?
Nick: The two things I’m most excited about are space tourism and the development of the lunar economy.
It seems like the technology is already in place to make space tourism a reality. Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo recently completed its first flight over Spaceport America and the company has already sold out of tickets for its initial round of flights, with each trip costing 250,000 USD.
There is clearly a big demand among potential space tourists and in the long term, space tourism will likely evolve into point-to-point suborbital space travel around the globe. Richard Branson has already spoken of Virgin Galactic’s plan to explore point-to-point travel in partnership with Boeing.
Various countries are also planning to explore and establish long-term settlements on the moon, with the US Artemis, China’s Chang’e, India’s Chandrayaan, and Europe’s Moon Village among some of the government led lunar missions likely to make significant progress over the next decade.
Various private companies such as ispace, SpaceIL, and OffWorld are also developing technologies needed for exploration and utilisation of lunar resources. It is likely that the development of the lunar economy will be carried out initially by robotic systems, with the extraction of lunar water to be used as fuel being the first crucial step in creating a sustainable lunar economy.
How has your experience working with SpaceChain Foundation been so far?
Nick: I have been extremely fortunate to be part of the SpaceChain Foundation team, which is made up of individuals who are genuinely passionate about their work.
We are a very international group, with team members based around the world across Singapore, the UK, China, and the US. It’s extremely important that the space industry fosters international collaboration, as space missions are complex and require support from as many partners as possible. This is especially true for deep space and lunar exploration, which will require all nations to commit to cooperation and sharing of technology and resources.
SpaceChain Foundation, with its multicultural and international background, is a good example of the type of company which will help push humanity forward on our voyage to the moon, Mars, and beyond.
Check out our other interview series with SpaceChain Foundation COO Alessandra Albano and Fossa Systems CEO and co-founder Julian Fernandez.
You can connect with Nick and the rest of our team as well as keep up-to-date with all of SpaceChain’s developments via Twitter and subscribe to our newsletter on our website for our latest news.
