Global Aerospace Summit24: Things that None Would Have Imagined. Yujin Park, Incheon National University
From September 10 to September 11, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce organized its annual summit on global aerospace. This leading event in the space and aviation sectors gathered government leaders and industry experts from around the world. For over 20 years, the summit has hosted discussions on key developments, trends, challenges, and opportunities in aviation and space.
On day 1, most of the sessions focused on aviation technology and the industrial future. Guillaume Faury, CEO of Airbus, pointed out that sustainable aviation requires collaboration between industry and government, as it is still in its early stages. Moreover, there is excitement about the future of aviation innovation, especially with new startups focusing on supersonic, electric, and urban air mobility. On the other hand, the primary concern for this industry is safety. Since the sector largely deals with transportation and logistics, the main issue for companies is how to safely move people and transport goods. One of the biggest challenges currently facing the industry is the shortage of engineering and technical workforce needed to develop, test, fly, and maintain aircraft.
The next day, the summit shifted focus to the space sector and invited people from NASA and various space companies. Max Haot, Chief Executive Officer of Vast Space, mentioned that Vast Space plans to launch their first space station module, Haven-1, using SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket. They avoid waiting for future technologies like SpaceX's Starship by utilizing existing rockets, allowing for a faster deployment. They also believe NASA should increase funding and introduce more phases in the Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development (CLLD) program. As in the aviation industry, lack of technology is a significant challenge they face. They said developing artificial gravity stations may take a decade or two. In this sense, Vast Space is focusing first on microgravity stations like Haven-1 as stepping stones toward their ultimate goal.
As an undergraduate student, I thought concepts like UAM were quite far away ideas. However, through several sessions at the summit, I began to realize that they are imminent innovations, likely to emerge within the next few years especially in the US.
From my perspective, the crucial question is whether AI advancements can address the challenges they face at this point. As a future consumer of urban and aerospace transportation, this summit provided me with an opportunity to have a glance into the future prospects of the aviation industry. I realized that this industry has the potential to evolve into sustainable aviation, and it's only a matter of time before it becomes part of our lives.