Space industrialization and space settlement have been waiting for the development of affordable transportation. The wait is nearly over. Now is the time to begin planning the next steps.

This summer, the Space Studies Institute will begin a multi-year effort to update the High Frontier vision of space settlement, with input from new technology and the emerging commercial space industry. Be there for the kick-off meeting at Seattle's historic Museum of Flight.

SSI 50: The Space Settlement Enterprise will be an exciting two-day conference featuring some of the space industry's top thinkers. Nestled alongside history-making exhibits, experts will seek to identify the technological and economic obstacles to space settlement. Panel discussions will cover six major areas:

• Habitat Design: What do we want to build?
• Construction: How do we build it?
• Resources: Where and how do we get the materials?
• Transport: How do we get there?
• Life in Space: How do we survive there?
• Economics: How do we pay for it?

We have structured the event to allow plenty of time for questions and audience interaction. The questions developed at this conference will inform SSI's research programs over the next few years.

In addition, we've arranged for two gourmet luncheons catered by McCormick and Schmick's. These luncheons will provide a great opportunity for networking and informal discussion of the day's topics. Luncheon tickets are limited. We strongly recommend that you take advantage of this option, but the museum has two excellent cafes that are available if the luncheon sells out.

Luncheon tickets are currently limited to 180 people (although we're hoping to increase that). The conference theater capacity is limited to 240 people.

Early Bird and Super Early Bird discount tickets are available in very limited quantities. Act now to save money and ensure your place at the most important space-development event of the year.

The Space Studies Institute and the High Frontier Vision

1969 changed our perception of humanity's place in the Cosmos forever. It was the year that Apollo 11 landed on the Moon.

That same year, Professor Gerard O'Neill was teaching a physics seminar at Princeton University. As a class project, O'Neill asked his students to examine a question: "Is the surface of a planet the best place for an expanding technological civilization?”

Over the course of the semester, Professor O’Neill and his students came to a remarkable conclusion: It was possible to build large space habitats, each one housing millions of people, using materials readily available from the Moon or asteroids. A fleet of such habitats could house more people than are currently living on the surface of the Earth.

As a first step, O’Neill conceived a smaller habitat, called Island One, capable of housing 10,000 people. The residents of the Island One habitat could build solar power stations that would supply clean electrical power to the surface of the Earth.

Prof. O'Neill authored a best-selling book,The High Frontier: Human Colonies in Space, which was published in 1977. To promote and develop his High Frontier vision, O’Neill created the Space Studies Institute (SSI). SSI continues in its dedication to the High Frontier Vision. As we approach the 50th anniversary of this vision, the Space Studies Institute is preparing for a dramatic reboot of Professor O'Neill's research program. Everyone interested in space settlement is invited to support our research by becoming a Supporting Member or Senior Associate.