Space Expo might land at Abbotsford Airshow
Includes asteroid mining, inflatable orbital hotels
Space Expo: People will get a different view of the stars if a space expo involving all possible aspects of the beyond including asteroid mining and space tourism takes place at Abbotsford's Tradex during the Abbotsford International Airshow. This star trail was captured at Fishermen's Memorial at Garry Point Park in Steveston.
Photograph by: Chung Chow, for the Abbotsford Times , Abbotsford Times
It's just a matter of ironing out final details, but if all goes according to plan, the inaugural Abbotsford Space Expo will be coming to Tradex on airshow weekend, Aug. 9 - 11, 2013.
"Everything in this industry is on the cusp of exploding; it has huge potential," said Louis Gelinas, founder and organizer of the event.
"The expo would showcase everything that's been happening in the private sector in space development and space tourism."
Still in negotiations with the Abbotsford Airshow Society and Tradex, Gelinas is hoping to have the deal finalized by mid February.
He said the timing is right to bring a trade show on space tourism and consumer space travel to the public, and the Abbotsford International Airshow is the perfect launching pad.
"Its location (on the West Coast) is perfect and it's world renowned," he said. "And it already has a built in audience; 100,000 people are guaranteed."
Some of the exhibitors Gelinas is hoping to attract include: Virgin Galactic; SpaceX (owned by the founder of PayPal); Planetary Resources (asteroid mining founded by Google executives); Bigelow Aerospace (inflatable orbital hotels); Google Lunar Xprize (Robots to send images from the moon back to Google); CSA (Canada Space Agency); NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration); and other entities from Europe, Denmark and Japan.
"We want as much international involvement as possible," Gelinas said.
"This is stuff that's been in the works, and right now it's about to happen."
Other draws to the Abbotsford Space Expo might include Canadian astronauts as keynote speakers, as well as a mock-up of a lunar habitat (with three or four rooms for people to explore).
The Space Expo would also showcase the whole business aspect of space, including asteroid mining; opening up a whole new world of investment.
"Now this industry can look at mining in outer space. The growth is enormous," said Gelinas.
"Asteroid mining has the potential to create trillionaires."
But for now, the Canadian entrepreneur who calls Hope, B.C. his home, is still working out the details with the airshow society and Tradex for a show this summer. He remains optimistic.
"I see it potentially doubling airshow attendance in a couple years, especially since the space industry is growing and growing," said Gelinas.
"We're right on the edge for it to just skyrocket - pardon the pun."
