Space research

• Space research spinoffs are benefitting life on Earth in a variety of domains, from medical care and software to agricultural production and vehicle efficiency.
• China's landing on the Dark Side of the Moon in January 2019 is part of the exploration program for space mineral resources. China also plans a permanent space station by 2022 and to put a man on the Moon within the next decade and to launch its first Mars probe in 2020.
• The USA plans to send a crew to orbit and land on Mars by mid-2030.
• Extraterrestrial entrepreneurship is growing, with the private sector increasingly set to both space travel/tourism, as well as exploration for new resources. Rocket launches by private companies are increasing—from Elon Musk’s SpaceX to Japan’s Interstellar Technologies or the Romanian ARCA.
• Space elevators between Earth and orbit may give low-cost access to space, and longer-range options for space travel are being explored, such as matter-antimatter reactions, fusion, ion drive, photonic propulsion, plasma ejection, and solar sails.
• By 2022, macroscopes could enable a better understanding of Earth's complexity by combining data from satellites, smart sensors, and weather stations, offering the possibility to better assess climate change trends, improve water and food use and distribution, and even to predict asteroid collisions.
• Space-based solar power systems could – along with other forms of sustainable green energy sources – achieve the
  full-renewable energy revolution and address anthropogenic climate change and fossil fuel dependency.
• The first prototypes of technologies for lunar conditions settlements might ride onboard a lunar mission by 2024-2025. Initiatives like The Moon Race global competition are encouraging these developments. 

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