A panel discussion organized by Moscow's Department of Investment and Industrial Policy together with RANEPA brought together representatives of companies and organizations from the space industry. The discussion focused on the development of private space in Moscow and was held in a TED-style format.
Participants could be split into two groups. Speaking on technological development were:
- Dmitry Agafonov of Bureau 1440 and Olga Kornienko of Sputnix, on their achievements and plans;
- Evgeny Stepin of MEPhI, on satellite engines and the outlook for the technology.
Speaking on the development of the space industry were Andrey Ionin of Geoscan, Alexander Uglov of the "Frontiers of Science" guild, and Dmitry Monakhov of L5.
Dmitry Monakhov, CEO of L5, gave a forecast on the pace of private space development in Moscow. He stressed the importance of integrating space capabilities into the digital economy, sharing knowledge and technology, and companies working together to tackle complex industry challenges.
Evgeny Stepin talked about satellite engines. L5 is looking into trying out satellite thrusters developed at MEPhI, and possibly setting up joint commercialization of MEPhI's work.
In his talk, Alexander Uglov laid out a philosophy that space is still in its infancy, and there's no shame in making mistakes here.
Andrey Ionin argued it's time to stop dividing space into private and state, and instead divide it into near and deep space. In his view, the breakthrough will come from whoever offers the best model for integrating space capabilities into the digital economy. In that context, he noted that L5 is developing technologies the digital economy actually needs and making it easier for space market participants to get their solutions into orbit.
This kind of dialogue between private space companies speeds up progress across the industry, drives innovative solutions, helps companies pool resources, avoids repeated mistakes, cuts costs through shared resources, and builds a common understanding of trends and future direction.
