NOVEMBER | COVER FEATURE
the same geodesic roof design, with no pillars.
“We went to The O2 arena in London, and
found out that audiences wanted better
acoustics and design. So we went to Holland,
Italy, and even the Colosseum in Rome and
planned the SEC from there. All the equipment
at the venue can be hidden under the floor,
and the furthest away seat is nearer than the
closest seat at The O2. We took ideas from the
Space Port project and changed them, like using
inflatable plastic to insulate sound.
“The SEC has been a huge success story,
and we’re going to create the best centre in
the whole of Europe to capture those events
we can’t capture now. We’re building an entire
temporary structure for a climate change
event in December 2020. We’re tendering for
contractors at the moment and it’s funded by
the government.”
But could a functional venue eventually
exist in space itself? Well, yes according to
Whitehorn. “A Von Braun wheel was designed in
1955, and you see that concept in 2001: A Space
Odyssey, so if you could create that, you could
have gravity in space.”
It’s not without its risks however. “Space
junk could be created from events, but it’s the
equivalent of one car on the M25 motorway. I
had dinner with astronaut Tim Peake last night,
and he said there was a piece of debris that flew
very close, and if it had gone through someone’s
brains, they’d have died.”
There could be a solution to this floating
impedimenta soon, however. “It’s often tiny bits
of debris left over from 70s and 80s missions.
I’m currently working on getting funding for a
company to make a satellite to clear the debris
Above and right:
SpaceX
up,” he adds.
What’s certain is that the possibility of
events in space is awe-inspiringly close. “We’re
revolutionising the cost of space technology and
getting in and out, and many companies will
benefit from this. Richard Branson gets to go
up to space in November, the first commercial
customer, and I’ve got a ticket for next year on
standby, which is very exciting.”
"Can we imagine space
adventure experiences
like a trip around the
moon, or space station
events where business
leaders are shuttled to
‘space festival’ stations"
Looking up to look forward
Further innovations are strengthening the
cost model for space travel. Relativity Space,
an LA-based start-up, was recently added to
a growing list of firms to truly innovate with
large-scale 3D printing, and their planning to
print an entire rocket… well, 95% of it, with the
exceptions being some electronics, cables and
rubber gaskets.
Relativity has just received $140m worth of
Series C funding towards its overarching aim
of being the first company to launch an (almost)
entirely 3D printed rocket into orbit.
Some major players clearly believe the
opportunity is real and huge, says MCI
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