In March 2011 Bas Lansdorp came one step closer to his dream: Creating a manned mission to Mars, by founding Mars One. Mars One is a public company with a clear vision: taking humanity to Mars in 2023 and establishing a permanent settlement. The Mars colony would present a breakthrough in mankind exploration of outer space and would set a starting point for potentially invaluable research, all of this while broadcasting live the life on Mars in the form of a reality TV show.
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After more than 18 months of self-funding, Mars One has attracted its very first sponsors. At the same time it has also sparked media interest as well as raised certain doubts about its mission and feasibility. The initial investment by early sponsors has marked the next step for the company initiating the funding stage. This is merely a drop of water into an ocean as the costs of only the first mission are estimated to be 6 billion of dollars. Therefore the main concern on Bas Landorp’s mind is how to ensure the future financing of Mars One and if his business strategy will hold.
Overview
The founders
Bas Lansdorp, M.Sc., Co-Founder & General Director
Bas is a 35 year old entrepreneur. He studied a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering in the Twente University in 2003. After his studies, he worked for five years at Delft University of Technology. Later, in 2008, he founded Ampyx Power in order to develop a new, viable method of generating wind energy. Bas sold his shares Ampyx in 2011 and started working full time in Mars One, Bas’s dream for many years.
Lansdorp says that he has been thinking about the colonization of mars for at least 15 years, since when he was still in University. In 2007, he revised the idea and began making more serious calculations. “I knew this idea would be possible, but I just didn’t know how to finance it” he says. After some brainstorming, Lansdorp turned to Paul Römer, the producer and creator of the internationally successful Big Brother reality TV series for financial advice. After hearing the technical plans for the mission, Römer told him “funding should be no problem – if we create the biggest media event ever around it.”
“This endeavor is an incredible challenge, overwhelming at times and a bit scary. But we press on. I believe the human exploration and habitation of Mars is imperative, the next giant leap for humankind.”
Arno A. Wielders, M.Sc., Co-Founder & Technical Director
Arno studied Master of Science in Physics in the University of Amsterdam and graduated in 1997. After that, he started working for the Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, to work at the Dutch Space Program in the Very Large Telescope Interferometer Delay Line project. By 2002 he finished his advanced graduate research, TWAIO certificate and began working as a scientist at the Space Department of TNO TPD in Delft. There, he worked in the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), a project that was developed by the NASA agency. In 2005 he founded Space Horizon and did a pre-feasibility study of a suborbital spaceport on the Dutch island of Curacao.
He worked for the European Space Agency (ESA), performing in the following capacities:
• Instrument scientist for BepiColombo (mission to the planet Mercury) science team (2005-2007).
• Payload study manager for Cross Scale mission studies, a constellation of satellites orbiting the Earth for magnetosphere research (2007-2009).
• Payload study manager for a mission to Jupiter (2009-2011).
In addition, Arno co-founded the Mars Society Nederland, an organization with the objective to promote a human mission to the Red planet. Nowadays he volunteers for the Planetary Society and organizes, with the Netherlands Association for Spaceflight special events related to the space. At the moment, he divides his time between Mars One and working at the European Space Technology.
“I believe mankind is destined to be a multi-planet species, to move beyond the confines of our home planet. To work with Mars One is to be a living part of this incredible undertaking.”
Mars One Project:
Mission
Mars One is a private, apolitical organization. It is the Mission Objective of Mars One to establish a human settlement on the planet Mars in 2023. Mars One plans to accomplish this through the integration of existing technologies developed by aerospace corporations who have demonstrated expertise in space travel.
Vision of Mars One
“Mars One believes the human exploration of the solar system is greater than the ambition of a single corporation or achievement of an individual nation. Mars exploration offers an opportunity to celebrate what a united humanity may accomplish.
As with the Apollo Moon landings, a human mission to Mars will inspire generations to believe that all things are possible, that anything can be achieved. Mars One believes it is not only possible, but imperative that we establish a permanent outpost on Mars in order to accelerate our understanding of the formation of the solar system, the origins of life, and of equal importance, our place in the universe.”
Where it would otherwise be too costly for a single corporation and too risky for a solitary government agency, Mars One intends through the integration of existing technologies to succeed in establishing the first human settlement on Mars by April 2023.
Schedule:
2013: The first 40 astronauts will be selected; a replica of the settlement will be built for training purposes.
2014: The first communication satellite will be produced.
2016: A supply mission will be launched with 2500 kilograms of spare parts, solar photovoltaic panels, and general supplies in a modified SpaceX Dragon.
2018: An exploration vehicle will be launched to pick the location of the settlement.
2021: Six additional Dragon capsules and another rover will be launched with two living units, two life support units and two supply units.
2022: A SpaceX Falcon Heavy will launch with the first group of four colonists.
2023: The first colonists will arrive on Mars in a modified Dragon capsule.
2025: A second group of four colonists will arrive.
2033: The colony will reach 20 settlers.
The Technology
Mars One has developed a plan to establish a settlement on Mars by 2023. This plan is built upon existing technologies available from proven suppliers. Mars One is not an aerospace company and will not manufacture mission hardware. All equipment will be developed by third party suppliers and integrated in established facilities.
The fully equipped mission is comprised of the following, primary hardware components as stated in Mars One website:
Launcher: This is the rocket used to take payloads from Earth launch into Earth orbit or to Mars.
Mars Transit Vehicle: Is a vehicle responsible for transporting the astronauts to Mars, and consists of two propellant stages, a landing module and living quarters.
Lander: The Lander will be used for 5 functions:
Life Support Unit: A Lander that contains the systems for the generation of energy, water and breathable air within the settlement.
Supply Unit: A Lander that contains food, spare parts and other smaller components.
Living Unit: This Unit is a Lander that is outfitted with a special inflatable section. After reaching the surface of Mars, this allows it to create a large living space for humans.
Human Lander: This is the unit which carries the astronauts to the surface of Mars.
Rover Lander: This is the unit which carries the rovers to the surface of Mars.
Rover: The Rover is a semi-autonomous, solar-electric powered exploration and construction vehicle used to explore the surface of Mars in search of the most suitable location for the settlement, for transport of large hardware components (in a tractor-like fashion), and then general assembly.
Mars Suit: protects astronauts from extreme temperatures, the very thin, non-breathable atmosphere, and otherwise harmful radiation.
Communications system: The communications system transmits the video streams from Mars to the communication satellite in Mars orbit and back to Earth. (Essential for communication between Earth and Mars as well as vital for broadcasting reality TV show)
A new era in Space Industry
The development of the space industry according to Elon Musk (CEO of the private owned company SpaceX) can be resembled to the one of the internet. They both were, at a first stage, governmental initiatives created to enhance the mankind frontiers. But it was only until the arrival of private owned and commercial companies that they developed their real potential.
Mr. Musk believes that what is going to happen with the space industry in the upcoming years is going to be similar to what happened with the internet in the 90’s. Reaching high grow rates and becoming more accessible for the general public.
In May 2012, the company SpaceX launched the first private owned cargo delivery for the international space station. The falcon rocket successfully sent more than 500Kg of food and supplies to the ISS departing from Cape Canaveral, FL.
For many analysts this was a milestone for the entire space industry and for the mankind itself. Nasa’s administrator Charles Bolden said: “Today marks the beginning of a new era in exploration… The significance of this day cannot be overstated; a private company has launched a spacecraft to the International Space Station…” This certainly opens the gates for other commercial companies to build space vessels and successfully execute space missions.
DVBDSA
Major Challenges:
The main technical difficulties of the mission to mars come from the return trip; it implies the necessity of a fully operational vehicle capable of escaping the gravitational field of mars, with enough fuel and supplies for a 7 month trip to earth, and capable of landing on earth or assembling to the international space station. All of these are huge barriers that have stopped humans from going to mars.
“Why is going to Mars so expensive? Mainly it’s the distance from Earth. At its closest point in orbit, Mars lies 35 million miles away from us, necessitating a journey of many months, whereas reaching the Moon requires just a few days’ flight. On top of this, Mars has a surface gravity that, though only 38 percent of Earth’s, is much greater than the Moon’s. It takes a lot of fuel to blast off Mars and get back home. If the propellant has to be transported there from Earth, costs of a launching soar. Without some radical improvements in technology, the prospects for sending astronauts on a round-trip to Mars any time soon are slim, whatever the presidential rhetoric.”
-Paul Davies (New York Times interview, 2004)
The health conditions of the cosmonauts are also a constraint for a long trip to mars. Since the gravity in mars is only 38% of the gravity of earth, after some time, the human body adapts itself top the new environment loosing osseous density and strength in the muscles. If a person stays for too long on that environment, it would be impossible for its body to readapt to earth’s conditions again.
Skepticism and doubts
A challenge of this kind is expected to raise all kinds of doubts and skepticism, and so it is in this case. First of all, the tight schedule that Mars One has defined seems to be a huge barrier for some people, that argue that 11 years won’t be enough to find and assemble all the pieces of the puzzle that are missing. In this group of people belongs Dr. Robert Zubrin, founder of the Mars Society, an international space advocacy non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the human exploration and settlement of the planet Mars.
Dr. Zubrin is also skeptical about the sponsorships and fundraising of the project; he stated to the Business Insider Magazine: “I don’t think the business plan closes it. We’re going to go to Mars, we need billions of dollars, and we’re going to make up the revenue with advertising and media rights and so on. You might be able to make up some of the money that way, but I don’t think that anyone who is interested in making money is going to invest on that basis – invest in this really risky proposition, and if you’re lucky you’ll break even? That doesn’t fly.”
There’s also another group of people that after hearing about Mars One plans, think that this is just a hoax to gain public attention and make money with marketing. Bas Landorp has responded to this: “The problem with proving something is not a hoax is that people who are behind a hoax would answer in exactly the same way”. This is a huge potential hazard for the company, as if they want to raise the money needed, they will have to prove to potential investors that it is not a scam.
Status Report
The Working Plan
In 2011, the founding members of the Mars One team started planning for the colonization of planet Mars. In the first year the completion of feasibility study has been achieved, and contacts have been made with experts from space agencies around the globe and private aerospace companies. Written letters of interest in support of the Mars One plan were received. The analysis conducted by Mars One has included technical, financial, social-psychological and ethical components. Mars One team is looking in to possible location for its training facilities that will resemble the surface of Mars, Gobi desert and Sahara are being considered. Concise Road map for Mars One mission has been laid out. Human settlement on Mars in 2023 has been carefully thought of as the planetary positions and the respective distance from Earth to Mars presents a key factor for the voyage.
European Space Agency (ESA) and Russia have estimated that the Mission to Mars and back would cost more than 20 billion dollars.
Bas Lansdopr and the team behind Mars One have calculated that their Mission to Mars will cost 6 billion dollars. This high drop of cost compared to global space agencies estimate, comes at a price. For Mars One to be feasible, the mission to Mars is planned as a one way trip. This means that anyone going to Mars with Mars One will have to be prepared to stay on Mars potentially for the rest of their lives. One way trip to planet Mars is not a novel idea, as it has been a topic of discussions for some time in space exploration circles. However this is the very first time someone suggested it as an actual proposition and part of their business plan.
Forming the team
In 2011 and begining2012, Lansdorp and Wielders placed the groundwork for Mars One through the development of associations with private aerospace corporations, researchers and industry experts who are now moving to support the Mars One initiative.
Bas and Arno have formed the competent team of experts in various fields to carry out Mars One mission. The team behind Mars One next to Bas Lansdorp (Co-Founder & General Director) and Arno A. Wielders (Co-Founder & Technical Director) consists of (Appendix A): Bryan Versteeg (Mission Concept Artist), Suzanne Flinkenflögel (Director of Communications), Kai Staats (Director of Business Development) and the newest team member since 4. October 2012. Norbert Kraft (Medical Director).
Mars One has relayed the support of various industry and scientific experts who bring real-world experience to Mars One. At the moment there are nine of them and their number is rising.
Tanja Masson-Zwaan
(Deputy Director of the International Institute of Air and Space Law at Leiden University and President of the International Institute of Space Law)
Brian Enke
(Senior Space Research Analyst at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, USA)
Prof. Pascale Ehrenfreund
(Lead investigator with the NASA Astrobiology Institute)
Dr. Gino Ormeno
(Seasoned Aviation Medical Examiner with long history of cooperation with NASA)
Dr. Raye Kass
(Professor of Applied Human Sciences at Concordia University, Montreal, Canada; involved in numerous space research projects around the globe)
Steve Carsey
(UK television executive with a reputation for creating and producing various showsn on BBC, Chanal 5, Sky One, FOX)
Prof. Thais Russomano
(MD, PhD, Brazil, Aerospace Medicine, Space Physiology and Medicine, Biomedical Engineering, and Telemedicine & eHealth research and development)
Dr. Christopher P. McKay
(Planetary Scientist with the Space Science Division of NASA Ames)
Dr. John D. Rummel
(Director of East Carolina University’s (ECU’s) Institute for Coastal Science and Policy and chairman of COSPAR’s Panel on Planetary Protection).
At the same time Mars One has managed to attract attention of few notable persons in form of Mars One ambassadors. Most known are Prof. Dr. Gerard’t Hooft (Nobel Prize winning theoretical physicist), Paul Römer (The co-creator and very first producer of the ‘The Big Donor Show’ and ‘Big Brother’), Mary Roach (American worldwide published author, specializing in popular science), Dr. Gerard Blaauw (Chairman of the Netherlands Space Society), Prof. Dr. Ir. Boudewijn Ambrosius (Chairman of Astrodynamics and Space Missions at TU Delft), Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor (Fellow Researcher at Institute of Space Science National University of Malaysia UKM, orthopedic surgeon and astronaut).
Contacting the suppliers
Mars One has visited several major aerospace companies around the world to discuss their plan and the hardware components needed for the mission. For each component they have found at least one potential supplier. Mars One has visited the companies outlined below (Appendix B) and has received letters of interest from them.
Astrobotic Technology Inc. is a Pittsburgh based company that is pioneering affordable planetary access and mobility solutions.
ILC Dover is the forerunner in the soft goods industry for current and near term space programs and advocate for commercial space activities across the globe.
MDA Corporation is a worldwide provider of information systems and is an established provider of custom space systems to government and commercial markets internationally, from earth orbiting infrastructure and spacecraft servicing to deep space and planetary exploration.
Paragon Space Development Corporation provides environmental controls for extreme and hazardous environments.
Space Exploration Technologies has developed a family of launch vehicles and spacecraft that increase reliability and reduce the cost of both manned and unmanned space transportation.
Surrey Satellite Technology is the worldwide leader in the construction of small satellites.
Thales Alenia Space has an enduring history in building habitable systems and has successfully developed a large number of pressurized elements for the International Space Station.
Sponsorship
Mars One has only received initial sponsorship money so far. With most of the corporate sponsorship funds they will finance the conceptual design studies provided by the aerospace suppliers. Sponsors for Mars One include(Appendix D): Byte Internet (Dutch internet service provider), VBC Notarissen (Dutch law firm), MeetIn (Dutch consulting company), New-Energy.tv (Dutch web station), Dejan SEO (Australian search engine optimization company), Interpidrd (small new Engineering company based in USA) and Adknowledge( the U.S. based fourth largest advertiser marketplace).
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Online presence
Mars One has made its debut in online sphere with creation of Mars One website (www.mars-one.com). The website provides the information about Mars One and serves as a portal for Mars exploration enthusiasts. It also includes an online shop that sells Mars One merchandise (in form of shirts, posters and coffee mugs). The revenues from sale are spent on funding the Mars Mission. With the launch of Mars One website the promotional introduction video has been released and was seen by more than one million viewers in the first four months.
Case Problem
Bas and the Mars One team face an extraordinary task; they have 11 years to make a human colony on Mars. In that time they need to acquire the resources, and convince the investors as well as the global community that their plan is real and feasible. They will face high risks, uncertainty, all kind of complications and possibly competition.
In the history of mankind, there have been several cases of almost unachievable endeavors, from the construction of the Pyramids to the Columbus’ trip to America and the Apollo missions to the Moon. Funding this kind of projects has always presented a major difficulty, especially now in this case, since the aerospace industry is shifting from governmental run organizations to private sector.
Regular mechanisms of financing and funding companies may not apply to a business of this kind, Banks are not expected to lend money for these projects, and Venture capitalists & Business Angels generally focus on sectors with less risk. Therefore, Bas and his team have to come up with a new plan for gathering funds, attracting investors and guaranteeing a net cash flow of US6Bn in the next years in order to execute successfully the plan.
Imagine that you are Bas Lansdorp. Try to reevaluate your strategic plan. Focus on Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of Mars One. Furthermore think how would you raise the funds necessary to make this project a reality? What potential investors would you contact and what models of financing would you pursue? How would you convince the public that Mars One isn’t a practical joke or marketing trick and assure the potential financiers that Mars One presents a sound business opportunity?
Appendices
Appendix A: The rest of Mars One team
Bryan Versteeg, Mission Concept Artist
Bryan Versteeg has worked for over 20 years in the graphics industry, specifically 15 years as a conceptual artist in the architectural and engineering fields. For the past six years, Bryan has worked as an independent artist and in 2011 founded Spacehabs.com in order to focus on the conceptual visualization for space exploration. Bryan is responsible for all the animations and illustrations on the
Mars One website.
Suzanne Flinkenflögel, M.A., Director of Communications
Suzanne graduated in 2005 in International Business Communications and Spanish at the University of Nijmegen. Suzanne brings to Mars One her working knowledge and experience in online marketing, social media and web analytics. Before Mars One Suzanne worked as a Marketing Manager for Dutch hosting provider Byte Internet. In her spare time, she works as a voluntary coach at the 1%Club, a crowd-sourcing platform that connects smart development projects with people, funds, and knowledge around the world.
Kai Staats, Director of Business Development
Kai Staats comes to Mars One with extensive experience in business development, mission critical systems development, and professional writing. Staats was for ten years the founder and CEO of Terra Soft Solutions, the former developer of Yellow Dog Linux for the PowerPC architecture. In this capacity, he led his team to develop supercomputing systems built upon Apple, IBM, and Sony computers for the United States Departments of Energy and Defense, NASA, top-tier university labs, and commercial entities in the tele-communications, defense, life sciences, and research arenas.
Terra Soft systems were used to process images from the Mars rovers, to conduct real-time sonar imaging on-board the U.S. submarines, to train both military and commercial pilots, and conduct bioinformatics research.
Norbert Kraft, M.D., Medical Director
Norbert Kraft, M.D., USA. Dr. Kraft received the 2010 Award for “Outstanding Accomplishments in the Psychological and Psychiatric Aspects of Aerospace Medicine”. He has over 17 years of experience in aviation and aerospace research and development. His primary area of expertise is developing physiological and psychological countermeasures to combat the negative effects of long-duration spaceflight. Dr. Kraft’s experiences span Europe, Asia, and the United States, where he has worked for several international space agencies, including the Russian Space Agency and the Japanese Space Agency.
Appendix B: Potential Suppliers to Mars One
Astrobotic Technology Inc. is a Pittsburgh based company that is pioneering affordable planetary access and mobility solutions that promise to spark a new era of exploration, science, tourism, resource utilization and mining in the solar system. Astrobotic is flying a mission to the moon’s pole in 2015 to find water ice.
ILC Dover is the forerunner in the soft goods industry for current and near term space programs and is very supportive of commercial space activities across the globe. ILC Dover is one of the few companies in the world that can claim to have products on both the Moon and on Mars. They have contributed to the Apollo spacesuits and the three-airbag landing systems that helped land the NASA rovers on Mars’ surface.
MDA Corporation is a worldwide provider of information systems and is an established provider of custom space systems to government and commercial markets internationally, from earth orbiting infrastructure and spacecraft servicing to deep space and planetary exploration. Provider of the robotic systems aboard the Space Shuttle and Space Station as well as robotic systems and science instruments successfully operating on the surface of Mars , MDA’s exploration heritage traces back over three decades of human spaceflight and Mars exploration. Today MDA supports US, Canadian, European, Russian, Japanese and commercial space programs from operating units across Canada, the US and Europe.
Paragon Space Development Corporation provides environmental controls for extreme and hazardous environments. Paragon designs, builds, tests and operates premier life support systems and leading thermal control products for astronauts, contaminated water divers, and other extreme environment adventurers, as well as for unmanned space and terrestrial applications.
Space Exploration Technologies has developed a family of launch vehicles and spacecraft that increase reliability and reduce the cost of both manned and unmanned space transportation, ultimately by a factor of ten. As the first rockets developed in the 21st century, the Falcon series take advantage of the latest technologies, as well as 50 years of “lessons learned” in the aerospace industry. SpaceX is demonstrating that through simplicity, both reliability and low cost can be achieved in commercial space flight.
Surrey Satellite Technology is the worldwide leader in the construction of small satellites. The British company provides a range of affordable satellite solutions to a variety of customers in the fields of Earth observation, science, technology demonstration, telecommunications and navigation.
Thales Alenia Space has an enduring history in building habitable systems and has successfully developed a large number of pressurized elements for the International Space Station, including Node 2 & 3, Cupola, Columbus and ATV Cargo Carriers. Thales is also currently developing the pressurized cargo carriers for the Orbital Cygnus vehicle in the frame of the NASA Commercial Resupply Services initiative.
Appendix C: Initial Mars One sponsors
Byte Internet is a hosting provider with a strong emphasis on service and technology and focuses on professionals (web designers or companies). Byte was founded in 1999 and in recent years has grown very rapidly. (www.byte.nl)
VBC Notarissen is an independent Dutch law firm with 3 branches. They have more than 70 employees in their offices in Amersfoort, Barneveld and Nijkerk. (www.vbcnotarissen.nl)
MeetIn is a Dutch consulting company, established in 2004 by Dirk Aleven and is located in Utrecht, the Netherlands.
New Energy.TV is an Dutch independent portal and internet station which focuses at the long-term process towards a sustainable energy supply in the Netherlands. Founding Partners are: Roelf van Til Productions and New Energy Works. The web station began on 1 January 2006.
Dejan SEO is in a nutshell an Australian search engine optimization company. They have provided professional marketing services to a diverse clientele since 2001. Founded in Brisbane, the company’s initial focus was providing consulting services for other marketing firms. Starting in 2008, Dejan SEO began offering search engine optimization services directly to the public as part of the newly-formed corporation SEO Pty Ltd. The company expanded internationally in 2009 opening two European offices and forming a business partnership in the United States.
Intrepid research & development is an engineering company in the USA, Pittsburgh area founded in 2011 by two Penn State honors graduates, Timothy Baxter and Joshua Vogel. They focus on optimizing research & development and providing consultancy and services to other companies.
Adknowledge, the fourth largest advertiser marketplace, specializes in performance-based marketing solutions that help make the long tail web accessible to search engine advertisers. Since its founding in 2004, Adknowledge has grown organically and through acquisitions, including Miva, Super Rewards and Hydra, became the largest privately-owned internet advertising network. In 2011 Adknowledge raised over $200 million in debt and equity financing to fuel its growth.
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