Why do we need space?

For a long time, space was polarized and one-dimensional. It served the aims of the state and was a weapon in the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. Sergei Korolev personified this: he was known to the Americans as the Secret Designer. In the 1990s, space started to change. It acquired peaceful uses such as the internet, communication and navigation, and business people started to invest financially in space start-ups. Space was transformed from one- to two-dimensional. The leader of this new space age was the founder of SpaceX, Elon Musk, who has made space exploration look like a gripping drama.

Today, humanity is at start of the next stage in the transformation of space. Space is changing from all points of view: culturally, ideologically, technically and in its media portrayal. More and more people and satellites are being launched into space, and unique medical experiments are being carried out in orbit. The influence of private investment is growing and more and more start-ups are appearing, with activities ranging from asteroid research to removing space junk from orbit. Space is becoming multi-dimensional, with many parties involved, and is much closer to all of us than it might seem.

However, the space industry is extremely capital-intensive. When there are problems here on Earth and people ask whether it wouldn’t be better to spend money on addressing these, their indignation seems justified. At the first meeting of the cycle of conversations on Space as Premonition we will talk about the aims of studying and conquering space. In what way is space important? What benefits does it bring people? Politicians, heads of government, space agency leaders, and business people all need to know how to explain the importance of space and convince others of this.

There is another important reason for us to be talking about space: 12 April 2021 marks sixty years since Yuri Gagarin became the first human being in space. Since then, space hasn’t become closer to us in the way its pioneers dreamed. But is has got more interesting — and this is what we’ll be talking about.