Inclusivity in the age of space exploration
The EHF Fellows of SpaceBase are uniting New Zealand’s Space innovators and democratising the space industry.
There is one view that every human on the planet has in common – space. The Moon’s silvery light has shone on every face that ever looked toward the night sky.
This universality of Space is perhaps why people from every era and walk of life have been drawn to explore its endless expanse. Since the first human escaped Earth’s atmosphere for the first time, children around the world have dreamed of becoming astronauts. Unfortunately, there is not an equal path for every would-be Space explorer.
Currently, over 70 percent of budgets and investments for Space projects and enterprises are concentrated in the nine richest countries of the world. Funding and opportunities for people wishing to pursue a Space-based career in less wealthy countries are extremely limited (if they exist at all).
This means that millions of innovative minds are being overlooked and underutilized in our exploration of “the final frontier" — a devastating realization when you take into account that Space is becoming increasingly essential to human survival and vital to future economic growth.
Not only could it serve as an eventual second home for the world’s growing population, but we are also gleaning huge insights into solutions for Earth’s biggest challenges from emerging satellite technology.
In the last period of human expansion and resettling we made grave mistakes that cost many lives and ultimately limited our growth. As we voyage to the skies, it is important to learn from our previous explorations and make sure every voice has the opportunity to be heard.
Enter SpaceBase
Emeline Paat-Dahlstrom has dreamed of going to space since she was a young girl growing up in the Philippines. Every card was stacked against her, but luck and a lot of hard work have moved her to the forefront of the global Space industry.
Over the past 30 years, she has built and served on numerous space and technology educational ecosystems and startup companies including Space Adventures - the first space tourism company to send private citizens to the International Space Station.
Her vision of the future is a “Star Trek society”, where Space travel is common and accessible to all. That’s why she co-founded SpaceBase, alongside two other EHF Fellows, Eric Dahlstrom and Rich Bodo in 2016.
SpaceBase’s mission is to reduce inequality in the space industry, starting in New Zealand.
“The global space economy is predicted to be over a trillion-dollar industry by 2040. Today, this opportunity is only available to the wealthiest nations in the world.” - SpaceBase Website
In only a few years, SpaceBase has catalyzed avenues for space-curious New Zealanders to learn, network, and collaborate through an expansive directory, student workshops, a compelling podcast, and countless other projects open to interested parties on their website. They have also been mentoring space startups in New Zealand.
The Space Challenge
In 2018, SpaceBase partnered with ChristchurchNZ to deliver the first annual NZ Space Challenge, which asked competitors to solve navigational issues for researchers in Antarctica using Space and satellite data.
Twenty-two teams participated and cash prizes were awarded to the winners, but more importantly, startups were supported after the competition ended so that the teams had the opportunity to become entrepreneurs and develop successful businesses.
It is not often that a challenge program like this one successfully develops new technology and it is even harder for the technology to find its way into production. But just a few months after the 2018 challenge ended, part of the winning team’s technology was being deployed and tested by Antarctic researchers, eventually helping them to more safely navigate treacherous ice and conduct critical environmental research work.
In 2019, the Aerospace Challenge focused on detecting pollution in water and soil. The winner- Seequent created a lake health index for monitoring the state of New Zealand lakes.
How to Get Involved
This year, SpaceBase is focused on expanding its online collaboration platform, which helps support emerging Space initiatives in New Zealand, and a Space wiki page that provides resources for space entrepreneurs to ideate, innovate and build successful startups.
They are also running a series of training programmes to help different regions in NZ catalyze their own space industry. This programme is geared towards local government representatives, space investors & industry decision-makers.
In the end, the ultimate Space challenge will not be in creating groundbreaking technology or breaking new barriers in space travel - that is bound to happen. The challenge will be including as many voices as possible in the biggest leap mankind has ever taken.
Journey with us
Impact is a journey and it doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It takes a group of inspired, committed, and informed individuals to get a world-changing idea off the ground. You can help amplify EHF Fellow impact as they work to develop solutions to some of humanity’s biggest problems. Here is how you can join us in this work as we journey together on a path to a better world:
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