Cost Reduction Solutions in Regard to Planetary Protection for Commercial Companies

摘要

The current guidelines regarding planetary protection were designed in an era where exploration was the sole domain of government entities, with the financial resources to ensure the most stringent of guidelines could be effectively followed. More recently, commercial space companies ranging in size from the industrial giants of Boeing and Lockheed to the growing companies of Deep Space Industries and Planetary Resources have begun to commercialize outer space, but they face a regulatory burden to comply with the international obligations of avoiding harmful contamination (as overseen by the US, a party to the Outer Space Treaty (OST)). While some of these companies have histories including government launches, many are inching closer and closer to launching their first missions. As the world reaches a point where companies are seeking to exploit the vast reaches of outer space, planetary protection has also entered a new era of reconsideration. In answer to the question of how best to carry out planetary protection, new methodologies for spacecraft sterilization are being developed while regulatory agencies are concurrently re-examining their current planetary protection guidelines, and their enforcement of them. As governments and companies join together in the exploration of the solar system, the scientific integrity of future exploration must be maintained while allowing for the vast economic considerations of commercial spaceflight to also be considered. This study began with research into current planetary protection guidelines and their methods of execution. Having established a basis of knowledge, outreach was performed to industry members involved with planetary protection (including regulatory bodies, producers, and purchasers) in the form of surveys or phone interviews. The gathered data was then collated and accounted for, with the objective of determining industry attitudes towards current guidelines and execution methodologies. Final analysis of our re