Long-term Overview
This page discusses the long-term vision of the company, to illustrate the scope of the plan, and to provide a context for the first major phase of the business.
Space property development? Are you for real?
As described in the introduction, AscensionTek is mainly focused on property development, initially on Earth, progressing to the Moon in about 30 years, and Mars about 20 years after that.
This may seem fanciful or far-fetched. However, consider everything that has happened over the past 100 years. Things will change much more during the next 100.
Space tourism has already begun, with the fifth space tourist returning to Earth in April 2007. Research indicates that the commercial opportunity represented by space tourism is significant, and several companies are currently positioning themselves to create and capitalise on this new industry, such as Virgin Galactic and Space Adventures. Others are providing services such as low-cost rocket launches (Space-X) and commercial orbital space complexes (Bigelow Aerospace).
Once people begin visiting space and spending more time there, it is highly likely that some will want to live there, especially on the Moon and Mars. Clearly, there are already plenty of people who want to live in space, and many cite eventual colonisation as one of the most important reasons for space exploration. There are numerous good reasons for colonising space (see Top Ten Reasons to Inhabit Outer Space).
Many plans already exist for establishing permanent settlements on the Moon and Mars. NASA are planning to build a moonbase by approximately 2024. Russia is planning one by 2025, Japan by 2030, and China by 2032. There are also plans for private moonbases (Artemis Society) and marsbases (The Mars Homestead Project).
NASA have stated that their role is as a pathfinder, conducting missions to refine and validate technologies and produce data, in order to lower the barriers for private enterprise to follow behind. There is general recognition within the space community that private enterprise will be the main driver of space colonisation, not government.
What this all amounts to is that space colonisation is a real, commercial process which is already underway. For AscensionTek to be a leader in this new industry, the time to begin is now.
AscensionTek is different
What makes AscensionTek different from other space businesses is that we do not focus only on space. Instead of spending the next 30-50 years purely on multimedia, analogue research or design studies, we have chosen instead to engage in business activities with real and growing markets on Earth.
This approach will enable the company to raise its own money instead of being entirely dependent on investment, will greatly reduce our risk, increase our probability of success, and provide us with valuable experience in business and property development. We will still be able to allocate a certain percentage of company resources to multimedia, analogue research and design studies, and in fact, the amount that we can invest in these activities will be greater.
There are many things we can do to prepare for building settlements on the Moon and Mars. After investigating a range of options over the past 8 years, we have identified the activity which offers the most advantages - namely, the design, construction and operation of ecovillages.
Schedule
2007: The company focuses on its core business, providing sustainable steel-frame housing, ecovillage design and construction, and consultancy services. We develop an advanced software system to manage, streamline and optimise the business. A percentage of time and resources (~5-10%) is channeled into moonbase and marsbase design studies.
2020: In preparation for space development the company branches into new areas, such as analogue research, environment control, robotics, and metals production.
2035: We begin our lunar development phase with our first moonbase, either independently or in co-operation with other partners such as space tourism or mining companies.
2055: Our Mars development phase begins using a similar strategy, incorporating lessons learned from Earth and the Moon.
Business Development Strategy
The following diagram shows the approximate long-term business development strategy for the company. Click on a phase of the company to find out more.
