Countries and companies around the world are racing towards conquering and commercializing space. As we move forward, decisions we make now will have lasting repercussions throughout history. One decision to be made is the role that robotics, AI, and VR will play within space.
Although we first landed on the moon over 50 years ago, we are still early in space exploration and the industry is in its infancy - in fact, at the time this blog was published there are only 5 people in space.
Needless to say, it’s hard to put a human in space and even harder to keep them there.The common goal of a multiplanetary civilization still seems far away in the future. As we work towards creating outposts for human life in space (starting with the Lunar Gateway on the moon), we need to consider how robots can help increase our chances of success.
The last few decades we have seen incredible innovation in robotics, AI, and VR. One suggestion is leveraging all three together to innovate on current space exploration. This is something we have seen early with NASA and their Mars rovers (with crowdsourced AI).
Leveraging robotics for the Lunar Gateway is a compelling strategy. Enabling humans to work through robots will increase the chance of success for the humans. By using robots to handle the early stages of discovery, we can scale our exploration of space quicker and safer.
While space is in its infancy, other industries have been building out technology that will cross-over well into the new industry. Robotics, AI, and VR have the opportunity to be widely used in early stage construction, exploration, and discovery of space that precedes human arrival. The result can be a fluid supply chain where the world can explore and learn about space without human presence.