Strategic advice to leverage new technologies

Cutter Expert Curt Hall recently spoke with Michael Marus, CIO of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). FSC has been testing and applying blockchain since 2021 to enable sustainability with forest-based materials and has found that blockchain’s traceability helps it achieve integrity and credibility for its certification system. This Advisor presents an excerpt from that interview.

This Advisor explores the rise of digital experience management (DXM). When implemented successfully, DXM can facilitate better engagement with existing customers, assist in acquiring new customers, and help differentiate a brand from its competition.

This Advisor examines a digital twin framework that was used to create, adjust, and deploy a digital twin of a nuclear power plant in the Middle East.

Curt Hall takes a look at the role 3D printing can have in space exploration. From Earth-based manufacturing of spacecraft parts to tools like wrenches on the International Space Station and metal parts during a Mars mission, space could be 3D printing’s killer app. Hall discusses a large number of technologies in development, including the ability to convert plastic waste from previously printed parts into feedstock that can be used to create new tools and parts. Similarly, there are projects underway to see if the Moon’s regolith can be used to construct the (literal) building blocks for a moon base. Printing food, medicine, and even replacement organs for long-haul space missions is also being explored using bioprinting, a technology that could come full circle to provide tissue-based patches for the outside of damaged hearts here on Earth.

Moriba K. Jah points to a growing concern over mankind’s ability to use orbital space for long-term benefit. Orbital space is not infinite; yet several companies are planning large-scale satellite launches in the next few years. When added to operating and abandoned satellites (and other space debris) in geostationary orbit (GEO), and low Earth orbit (LEO) orbits, there’s the potential for “a tragedy of the commons.” Jah proposes a solution guided by the tenets of traditional ecological knowledge, including recognizing space as a dynamic ecosystem in which changes in one part can impact the whole, designing satellites and spacecraft for longevity/reusability, and promoting a greater sense of accountability among spacefaring nations and commercial entities. Shifting from a linear space economy to a circular one, says Jah, would not only prevent orbital ecocide, but it would also preserve the final frontier as a resource and habitat for future generations.

Although government investment still makes up the bulk of space-related funding, a combination of three main factors has resulted in a foundational evolution of the industry, often referred to as “New Space.” New Space has generated an unprecedented rise in the number of space players, rocket launches, spacecraft in orbit, and volume of space-generated data. This issue of Amplify explores the key challenges that the space industry faces in its journey toward long-term sustainable growth and value creation.

Matteo Ainardi, Arnaud Siraudin, and Guillaume Storck present a way for businesses to envision future space ecosystems and their associated value chains. A recent study, conducted by the EURO2MOON association (including Arthur D. Little), endeavored to understand demand drivers, value chains, and areas of uncertainty around lunar resource use. Propellant production was used as an illustration — the reaction engines needed to power vehicles on the lunar surface and traveling to/from Earth (and beyond) will need propellants. The study examined both the supply side and the demand side, developed scenarios of a future ecosystem, proposed a likely value chain, outlined use cases, and estimated those use cases’ likely ranges of demand. Beyond giving a peek into lunar opportunities, the article can help businesses considering lunar-economy investment better understand how to account for inherent high levels of uncertainty.

Ronald Birk, Lori W. Gordon, and Eleanor Mitch outline the factors behind the need for a system that dynamically updates space supply chain information. Along with higher demand, there is competition among sectors, such as medical device and auto makers, for certain commodities and many rare-earth elements. The authors propose a distributed ledger technology (DLT) system called “Space supply chain Topology for Assessing Risk (STAR)” that would create a nexus for all stakeholders in the space supply chain community. STAR would include trusted partnerships via information-sharing agreements, information wells that let partners leverage an array of structured and unstructured data, a network of cloud-based platforms that enable secure processing of data among partners across the space enterprise, data integrity via DLT, and assessments of priority items to discover weak areas in space supply chains. The article describes the four key risks STAR would identify and calls for community dialogue about a space enterprise solution that “shines a light on dynamically evolving risks.”