Space has become the latest fashionable playground. One year ago William Shatnerthe actor who played the cult role of Captain Kirk in star trektook place on board the spacecraft New Shepard of the company Blue Origin, of Jeff Bezos. Like any space tourist, he had the right to a preparation for his little trip of 10 minutes to 100 km in orbit around the Earth. Bare minimum, because he wasn’t supposed to do anything but watch the blue planet through the porthole.
On the other hand, given the speed at which projects for space travel are developing, it will be necessary to quickly train those who will accompany these holidaymakers in space suits, but also all the future small hands brought one day to repair the stations, even those who in a few decades will go to build the lunar base. And space agencies already have a lot to do with their own astronauts.
In discussion with Jared Isaacman, head of the Polaris Dawn manned mission, Jonathan Pickworth, a former student of Isae-Supaero said to himself that a solution had to be found to give a solid foundation to all these future “commercial astronauts”. . And naturally, he turned to his former teacher specialized in spatial systems design, Stéphanie Lizy-Destrez, to create The Spaceflight Institute.
“We know how difficult it is to become a pilot, you need rigorous training. And it’s the same problem for space. When you see the evolution that you foresee in the use of space, you have to train people so that everything goes well, beyond the astronauts who are selected by the agencies and have their own program, “explains Stéphanie Lizy-Destrez, whose young start-up has just joined Tech The Moon incubator in Toulouse, supported in particular by the CNES and which wants to stimulate innovations to meet future needs “to live and work on the Moon in a sustainable way”. Out of the question for this specialist to take the train of the new space conquest once it is launched. Given the speed at which private projects are emerging across the Atlantic, and the time needed to know a minimum of them, she decided to start “because, when you see how things are moving, in five years it will be too late”, she believes.
Training between 80,000 and 100,000 euros
“We want to train those who will accompany tourists, work in surveillance, defense or even the maintenance of objects, private or agency space stations, the recycling of space debris. But also doctors and other functions who will be there to support those who will be temporarily or more permanently in space. There are many professions beyond the pilot and the scientist, ”explains the co-founder of this new training center which could provide its first courses at the end of 2023, beginning of 2024.
The sessions will last one year, for the certifying version, the cost of which should vary between 80,000 and 100,000 euros, and will be tailor-made for private companies. On the program, there will be a theoretical part with in particular the fundamental knowledge of engineering, space medicine and geology. But also a “know-how” component around psychological and physiological support and another focused on “know-how”, the practical part. Future commercial astronauts will pass their pilot’s license, dive, go through simulators and learn how to manage crisis situations. And will be put in real conditions during Zero G parabolic flights.
Tom Cruise as first customer?
For the moment The Spaceflight Institute is setting up and working to recruit its future teachers, from the academic world but also from space agencies, with the ambition of involving astronauts who will share their experiences. “We have already received a lot of requests from people interested in the program. There are space agencies that do not yet have an astronaut program and are in the process of development. There are also private companies which are equipped with means of training but do not have the theoretical aspect. And individuals who hope to leave one day or who are explorers and travel to hostile and risky environments”, specifies Stéphanie Lizy-Destrez.
And why not future actors ready to make films hundreds of kilometers from the ground. Like Tom Cruise who hopes to be the first civilian to go on a spacewalk outside the International Space Station, as part of a film where he would be a hero who saves the world.