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Announcing our foremost mission: Prometheus
The mythic Greek figure, Prometheus is best known for defying the Olympian gods by stealing fire from them and giving it to humanity in the form of technology, knowledge, and civilization. The Above Space mission of the same name is likewise a gift to mankind of knowledge and technology, as it will usher into existence an opportunity for human beings to not just visit space for more than 455 days (the current record), but to live, work and recreate there indefinitely. To build a permanent space-faring civilization, in fact. This is an auspicious event. The hardware we test, the algorithms we run and the payloads we host will likely serve mankind for centuries. And you can be a part of it.
(Spoiler alert: Above Space has acquired something equal to fire in importance for humanity’s assent into the heavens.)
The goal: $3.18 million to fund a scheduled mid-2024 launch window.
Above: Space Development Corporation is a leader in the race to make space available to everyone.
By building the Pioneer-class™ and Voyager-class™ Space Stations – gravity simulating on-orbit habitation environments for leisure, commercial and industrial activities.
ABOUT ABOVE SPACE
Human beings have feet for one reason. Or, rather one G.
To live for more than a few hundred days on orbit, science has concluded there’s still one essential thing that’s missing for space habitats. Gravity. It has taken our species 3.7 billion years of evolution to adapt to Earth’s gravity and in that time, we have become as dependent upon that force as we are water or air. It strengthens us. It gives our muscles mass and our bones density, it makes our hearts work harder. And without it, as several studies on astronauts and cosmonauts in orbit have shown, our bodies decline severely.
Every organization involved in long-term habitation in space knows this.
One company has a five-year head start on a solution.
Above.
--
Above is developing spaces in Space to fulfill the dream of low-gravity on-orbit habitation for all.
Drawing upon our team’s 150 years of collective experience on over 30 space missions, plus the deep expertise of several hardware vendors and partners, Above has been working to develop the technology to build gravity-capable structures in space faster and at a dramatically lower cost.
Above Space milestones to date include:
- A full-scale working prototype of the DSTAR™, an automated truss building robotic system.
- A five-year umbrella Space Act Agreement with NASA to support Above’s efforts to design space stations and platforms.
- Designed and built software and hardware for artificial gravity generating space platforms, with testing and validation at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.
- Filed multiple provisional patent applications (#63228459, #63345763, #63373308) and continuing the process of protecting Above’s extensive portfolio of hardware and software intellectual property..
- Agreements with more than 60 potential partner-customers of these platforms, including the US Air Force AFRL division.
- Continuing testing and validation of emerging technology at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center.
- Two Air Force contracts totaling $1.8 million.
- Voyager-class™ station, PSTAR™, Gravity Ring™, Station-In-A-Box™, Prometheus, Archimedes, Pioneer-class™ space platforms and the OASIS™ habitation module designs.
--
Vision/Mission:
To establish a scalable technological roadmap to guide us to the first gravity-capable, habitable space stations where humans may thrive. Ultimately, our goal is to build and operate our own on-orbit business parks with gravity.
PROBLEM
The ISS is a monument to man’s ingenuity. It’s also a dead end.
The International Space Station, a marvel in its day, has become a too-small, low-occupancy, backlogged bottleneck. The process of launching an experiment or payload to the ISS can take an average of two years, requires multiple committee validations and there’s no guarantee that a commercial payload will not be bumped at the last minute to make room for a project or payload deemed more significant.
Cost is also a major barrier to doing business in space. Current estimates place the cost of clearing the regulatory hurdles and placing a payload package on the ISS at over $100,000 per kilogram. (1kg = 2.2 pounds, or around the weight of a liter bottle of water.)
While private space launch companies have successfully lowered launch costs compared to that of shuttle missions, the cost is still out of reach of most commercial teams.
And there’s still the issue of gravity. Humanity has successfully, albeit temporarily, occupied space, but we have yet to master it. After years of advancing space development, we continue to be hindered by the physiological, psychological, and emotional effects of long-term habitability in a microgravity environment. Science tells us, if we want to spend more than a few hundred days in space at a time, artificial gravity is a necessity.
As you’ll note in the next section, with such high demand, high costs, and a real need for a path to on-orbit gravity, the solution is, both literally and figuratively, Above.
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WHY INVEST IN ABOVE
The commercialization of space is accelerating. The market value is expanding. The path toward success clearly runs through a capability that Above is leading the capitalization of.
The Prometheus mission is a critical stepping stone to opening up access to space for hundreds of commercial, government and academic organizations. And it represents a roadmap to building an incremental manned space infrastructure that will eventually become a platform with both microgravity and 1/6th Earth gravity (equal to the Moon’s gravity) — first for dozens of people and eventually for hundreds.
Prometheus cuts the time it takes to put a product in orbit from years to months. With fewer hoops to jump through and a projected cost per payload kg that represents a massive leap forward. It’s a complete game changer.
Demand for multiple free-flying orbiting laboratories is high. Other industry players are stuck in the past, with designs that recreate the same, small-volume microgravity-only platforms that have been used for over 60 years. Above Space is tapping into markets that have been held down by high costs and limited access for decades.
Our extensive IP library with over 40 inventions in the patent pipeline and three patent-pending designs (#63228459, #63345763, #63373308) use a modular approach to start small and build larger structures for commercial and defense applications. By using proven space flight hardware, we aim to expedite humanity’s pathway into commercial space at a much lower cost compared to any other on-orbit platform.
THE OPPORTUNITY
A successful Prometheus Mission will allow us to move closer to our goal of making space available to virtually anyone, capitalizing on our established partnerships with heritage, legacy, and Commercial Off the Shelf (COTS) space systems to make rapid deployment and automated assembly a reality.
The Above: Space approach to refined, modular, automated designs that can scale to habitability accommodates the need for large structures with artificial gravity to support long-term manufacturing and production activities in space. These designs can advance commercial opportunities in profitable and meaningful ways on our fleet of space stations within the decade — step one will be a successful Prometheus uncrewed launch.
Above Space believes that our planned versatile, mixed-use facilities in Earth’s orbit are the perfect locations to:
- Mass-produce materials of incredible strength
- Create technologies and materials to transmit both information and energy
- Grow large crystals for optics, communications, and research
- Manufacture organs and other biomaterials.
- Establish a base on which to live, thrive and capitalize on the potential of LEO.
- Enable innovation at a pace that scales with demand.
GO-TO-MARKET ROADMAP
Prometheus Mission — Mid 2024
Q1 2023 – Mission and platform design
Q2 2023 – Bench top and flat floor testing at NASA MSFC
Q3 2023 – Finalize mission and platform design
Q4 2023 – Finalize customer manifest, further testing
Q1 2024 – Finish assembly and integration
Q2 2024 – Integrated spacecraft testing
Q3 2024 – Launch
The Prometheus mission, which is our first step toward making space commercialization accessible, has three goals. The test of six-axis cold gas thruster technology propulsion hardware, a real world run of the Above Space software algorithm for navigation, and the hosting of critical payloads which serve as both a proof of concept and a necessary auxiliary funding source for the mission.
Archimedes Mission — Early 2025
Archimedes is a mission to validate our adaptive platform technology for power beaming. Archimedes could have seismic implications for both long-range communications and the race to net zero greenhouse gas emissions. The mission launch is slated for early 2025.
An ecosystem of partners and suppliers
A key to our orbital platforms’ success is our partners, customers, and suppliers. Above Space has integrated a business model with an end-to-end supply chain and distribution system that easily connects terrestrial supply lines to business-to-business customers on orbit. These capabilities are designed to allow our commercial customers to continuously supply their existing terrestrial markets.
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
Planned and proposed competitive stations
The need for scaling to habitable platforms is critical. The space stations listed below have been announced by their host entity and are currently in planning, development or production. Each has (mistakenly) used the ISS as a blueprint for expanding mankind’s habitation in space. Launch dates are subject to change.
|
Name |
Entity |
Program |
Crew size |
Launch date |
Remarks |
|
4 |
November 2024[80][81] |
Intended to serve as a science platform and as a staging area for the lunar landings of NASA's Artemis program and follow-on human mission to Mars. |
|||
|
TBD |
2024[82] |
Eventually will detach from the ISS in the early 2030s and form a private, free flying space station for commercial tourism and science activities. |
|||
|
Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS) |
Russia's next generation space station. |
TBD |
2027[83] |
With Russia leaving the ISS programme in 2024, Roscosmos announced this new space station in April 2021 as the replacement for that program. |
|
|
Private |
4 |
2027[84] |
"Commercial platform supporting a business designed to enable science, research, and manufacturing for customers around the world." |
||
|
Private |
10 |
second half 2020s[85] |
"Commercial station in LEO for research, industrial, international, and commercial customers." |
||
|
3 |
~2030[86][87][88][89] |
ISRO chairman K. Sivan announced in 2019 that India will not join the International Space Station, but will instead build a 20 ton space station of its own.[90] It is intended to be built 5–7 years after the conclusion of the Gaganyaan program.[91] |
|||
|
(LOS) |
TBD |
after 2030[93] |
|||
|
TBD |
Private |
4–8[94] |
"to provide a base module for extended capabilities including science, tourism, industrial experimentation"[95] |
||
|
Private |
4 |
2025 [96] |
"Scheduled to be the world's first commercial space station, Haven-1 and subsequent human spaceflight missions will accelerate access to space exploration"[97] |
||
|
LIFE Habitat Pathfinder |
Private |
TBD |
2026 |
"Before offering LIFE for Orbital Reef, though, the company is proposing to launch a standalone “pathfinder” version of LIFE as soon as the end of 2026".[98] |
Currently, no planned space station has the capability to create gravity on orbit and none listed have the space and capacity for crew, storage or manufacturing than the stations planned by Above. Prometheus is Above’s first orbital commercial platform which will validate the successful operation of an industrial free-flyer.
THE MARKET
There is a a continuing and growing bottleneck for access to the International Space Station. With no cost relief in site. That is an opportunity for Above.
NASA recently announced that its 2021 economic output exceeded its annual budget by a factor of three, without the agency having an economic motive. In 2019 the global space economy was valued at over $424 billion.
Bank of America forecasts that the space economy could reach $1.4 trillion by 2030.
And the availability of gravity on orbit from Above Space makes that goal much more likely. The markets for on-orbit variable gravity environments include construction, manufacturing, research, production, testing and refining of procedures, space tourism, and, of increasing interest, additive manufacturing.
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Ultimately, Above Space’s ability to capture a large portion of the space development market relies upon our nimbleness. We are continually building the on-orbit capabilities to be an end-to-end assembly, construction, and development provider. Which means, as market factors evolve, we can shift focus and resources to areas with the highest revenue potentials.
IMPRESSIVE MEDIA COVERAGE
The anticipation of Above Space’s habitable stations have incited a vast amount of high-profile international coverage and public support, and we continue to capture major media support worldwide. More than 500 news articles, interviews, and features have appeared to date. These include highly respected broadcast news outlets such as CNN, NPR, and CNBC’s News with Shepard Smith, as well as national talk shows such as Live with Kelly and Ryan and The Late Show with Steven Colbert. Print coverage includes The New York Times, Architectural Digest, Business Insider, the Robb Report, and BBC News.
Here are just a few of the links to recent stories, some with our previous name, Orbital Assembly:
- The New York Times
The Future of Space Tourism Is Now. Well, Not Quite. - Huntsville Business Journal
Micro Meat and Orbital Assembly Team Up on Space-Based Food Production Venture - Smithsonian Magazine
Space Hotel Slated to Welcome Earthlings in 2025
OPERATING TEAM
Above Space has assembled a superb, experienced, passionate team representing many decades of space heritage, with professionals who were instrumental during the earliest days of NASA. Their combined expertise in the fields of construction, commercialization, mission management, design, engineering, physics, space architecture, space craft, space mission design, and business ensures Above Space’s success in meeting our financial goals.
Rhonda Stevenson
CEO, President
As President and Chief Executive Officer, Rhonda Stevenson is leading the team at Above Space to drive sustainable commercial innovation in the space habitation and construction industry.
Stevenson joined Above Space in 2021, after serving as a member of the executive advisory board. She has more than 20 years of business leadership and entrepreneurial experience in the aerospace sector, startups, and franchises, and instills a passion for building successful relationships within the space industry.
Stevenson also heads the non-profit organization ─ Tau Zero Foundation ─ dedicated to pioneering advancements toward interstellar flight, focusing on the intermediate steps of advanced propulsion and energy storage for on orbit capabilities and beyond. She is the creator and host of the “Space Matters” show, a syndicated weekly digest of space industry activities and relevant conversations.
In 2013, Stevenson founded Blue Elysium Enterprises, which provided strategic executive consulting to technology companies. Earlier in her career, she was chief marketing and promotions officer at Deep Space Industries, and founder of Space Mining and Resources Coalition.
Dr. Tom Spilker
CTO, VP of Engineering, VP of Space Systems Architecture Design
Dr. Tom Spilker, a co-founder of Above Space, leads Above Space’s space systems development for several projects, including the near-term Pioneer-class and the Voyager-class Space Stations.
Prior to joining Above Space, Dr. Spilker consulted on space flight mission architectures and proposals and planetary and solar system science investigations, and provided high-level feasibility assessments and spacecraft system engineering for scientific space flight missions.
He served as both a scientist and engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory for more than 20 years, including 10 years as a Principal Space Flight Mission Architect. He worked on NASA's Voyager, Cassini, and Genesis missions, and was a co-Investigator for the microwave instrument on the European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission.
Dr. Spilker earned an M.S.E.E and Ph.D.E.E. from Stanford University and a Bachelor of Science degree, summa cum laude, in Geophysics and Computer Science from Kansas State University.
Timothy Alatorre
NCARB, LEED AP: COO, CFO, Chair of Board, VP of Business Administration, VP of Habitation Architectural Design
Tim Alatorre NCARB, a founder of Above Space, brings more than 20 years of experience in business management, engineering, habitat design, and programming to his roles as chief operating officer and vice president of habitation design.
Alatorre was previously CEO of Domum, an internationally recognized architecture firm based in California. There, he increased revenue by 240% and grew the startup firm to a multinational organization overseeing more than $320 million in construction projects annually. He has supervised the design and construction of more than 600 structures and more than $1.5 billion in construction projects.
Alatorre has served as a planning commissioner and member of a municipal Architectural Review Committee for the city of Rocklin, CA, for several years, and worked as a consulting subject matter expert for the state of California for more than a decade.
Alatorre earned a Bachelor of Architecture degree from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo.
Dr. Jeff Greenblatt
VP of Science and Research
As a founding member of Above Space, Jeffery Greenblatt plays many roles, including project management, technical analysis, research, cost estimation, market assessment, and fundraising.
A well-known expert in energy analysis, climate policy and sustainable transportation, he began expanding his focus to emerging space technologies in 2014, and founded Emerging Futures, LLC, an environmental and space consultancy, in 2016.
Prior to that, he served as a staff scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for more than eight years. He has worked in climate and energy research capacities at Google, Environmental Defense Fund, Princeton University and the NASA Ames Research Center.
Greenblatt has a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics and Chemistry from Haverford College.
Robert Miyake
Senior Systems Thermal Engineer and Board Member
Robert Miyake has more than 60 years of experience as an engineer working in aerospace and space operations. He came out of retirement to join Above Space after more than 30 years at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where he was lead thermal systems and systems engineer, working on design, test and flight operations of spacecraft and flight instruments. While there, he worked on NASA missions including SeaSat, Topex MGS, IAE, WF/PC, and other flight instruments.
Prior to joining JPL in 1978, he worked at Lockheed Missile and Space Company on commercial and military aircraft. He started his career at Boeing Airplane Company in 1961, where he worked on many projects, including the 727 aircraft.
Miyake completed graduate studies in mathematics, bioengineering, system engineering and computer science, and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering with a thermal/fluids and nuclear emphasis at San Jose State College.
Eric Ward
VP of Engineering Design
Eric Ward is an experienced systems engineer and entrepreneur who sees growing the private space industry as the next step to progressing humanity's future by venturing beyond the planet. He has published multiple papers and presentations on system architecture and the space industry, and co-founded and operated several space industry startups.
Ward received a Master of Systems Design and Management degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Oregon State University. His Erdős number, which is derived from co-authoring mathematical papers, is 4.
ADVISORS AND INVESTORS
Shawna Pandya, MD
Strategic Advisor - Space Medicine, Director of Medine
PHYSICIAN. SPEAKER. CITIZEN-SCIENTIST ASTRONAUT & AQUANAUT. MARTIAL ARTIST.
http://shawnapandya.com/
James Wolff, Esq
Above Space Co-Founder, Special Advisor
Experienced legal professional with business development and space startup experience.
Frank White
Author and Space Philosopher
Frank White has authored or coauthored numerous books on topics ranging from space exploration to climate change to artificial intelligence. His best-known work, The Overview Effect: Space Exploration and Human Evolution, is considered by many to be a seminal work in the field of space exploration. A film called "Overview," based largely on his work, has had nearly 8 million plays on Vimeo.
Andre Bormanis
Writer and Producer, Science Consultant for Star Trek, The Oroville.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_Bormanis
Janet Ivey
Television Host and Educator
Janet Ivey, creator of the TV children's series Janet's Planet that airs on 140+ public television stations nationwide, is committed to enriching the lives of children via education and TV and online programming.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janet%27s_Planet
Kai Staats
Research Director for SAM at Biosphere 2
Entrepreneur, Research, and Scientist
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kai_Staats
Jeff Greason
Co-founder and Chief Technologist of Electric Sky, Chairman of the board of the Tau Zero Foundation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Greason
Dan Hawk
Principal Scientist at United First Nations Planetary Defense
Dan is an International Committee Member for the National Space Society, a Member of the United Nations Indigenous Committee. Dan also is on a number of indigenous and space panels like the Indigenous Research Center, MIT Space Enabled Group, and Anthropogenic Environmental Impact on Space Traffic.
Jim Armor
CEO The Armor Group, LLC
Public Policy Committee, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics US Air Force Major General, Retired
Jim Howe
VP of Government Relations at Centrus Energy
Experienced executive with extensive advocacy, government relations, communications, business development, and leadership experience in the private sector and in a variety of high-profile government positions.
Dave Fisher
President & Independent Consultant, Liftoff Strategic Advisors
Former VP Business Dev, Astroscale
John Mankins
Space Power Advisor, President of Artemis Innovation Management Solutions
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_C._Mankins
Tim Clements
Strategic Advisor - Manufacturing
Global expert in manufacturing, supply chain management, and fabrication.
USE OF PROCEEDS
|
Uses |
If Target Offering Amount Sold |
If Maximum Amount Sold |
|
Intermediary fees |
500 |
127,200 |
|
Compensation for managers |
0 |
|
|
Engineering and Design |
0 |
1,628,000 |
|
Prometheus Flight Hardware |
0 |
1,039,800 |
|
General corporate / Customer Acquisition / administrative |
9,500 |
285,000 |
|
10,000 |
3,180,000 |
TERM
This is an offering of common stock, under registration exemption 4(a)(6), in Above: Space Development Corporation. This offering must raise at least $10,000 by December 31, 2023, at 11:59pm ET. If this offering does not reach its target, then your money will be refunded. Above: Space may issue additional securities to raise up to $3,180,000 — the offering’s maximum.
If the offering is successful at raising the maximum amount, then the company’s implied valuation after the offering (sometimes called its post-money valuation) will be:
82,816,797 shares
× $2.65 per share
$219,464,512 implied valuation
INVESTOR PERKS
Package 1 - $530 - "Photo In Space" - 200 available
We will submit your photo in space on the Prometheus mission and take a photo of your photo! The easiest way to get to space! Terms and conditions apply.
Package 2 - $9,805 - "Your Name in Metal" - 20 available
Everything in Package 1, PLUS:
Your name engraved on the Prometheus spacecraft! We will provide pictures of your name on the spacecraft pre-launch AND in space!
Package 3 - $49,820 - "Come to the Launch" - 5 available
Everything in Package 1 and 2, PLUS:
A VIP invitation to the launch where we will present you a commemorative plaque for your significant investment.
Package 4 - $349,800 - "Commemorative Plaque on the Spacecraft" - 5 available
Everything in Package 1, 2 and 3, PLUS:
A min 42 cm2 plaque on the spacecraft noting your contribution to this critical incremental step to ensure that humanity becomes a permanent, space faring civilization!
Disclosure: this page represents Testing The Waters materials.
- No funds or other consideration is being solicited, and if money is sent, it will not be accepted by the company;
- No sales will be performed or commitments to purchase accepted until the offering statement is qualified; and
- A proposed purchaser’s indication of interest is non-binding.