麻豆传媒

IN LATE June, a SpaceX rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral in Florida. As well as the usual supplies and a few satellites, it was carrying some curious items. Among the payload were a football and six bags of green slime. In October, a similar rocket will carry up an oven designed for baking cookies. A hodgepodge of objects, to be sure, but they have one thing in common: all were sent up by companies that seemingly have no business in space, from sports brands to hotel chains. So what鈥檚 going on?

For decades after the first astronauts went into orbit, space was the domain of governments. It is only much more recently that companies have got involved. A firm called NanoRacks, for example, helps package up payloads and facilitate experiments on the International Space Station (ISS). Then there are the likes of SpaceX and Blue Origin that make spacecraft.

These firms are exceptional. They were explicitly set up to go into space, are backed by billionaires and often poached their first staff from NASA.

The only other companies that previously went to space were those involved in fundamental research, of which there has been plenty aboard the ISS (see 鈥�The most interesting experiments in space). Take pharmaceutical firms, which do experiments on the space station because microgravity offers a novel environment for chemistry. Crystals grow differently in space, which can result in new or better drug properties.

Now, more companies are getting in on the act. In March, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency announced that car-maker Toyota would help it build a moon rover. Toyota isn鈥檛 a space company, but the decision still makes sense because a rover is a sort of car. The marketing benefit for the company is also clear. 鈥淚f a Toyota can work on the moon, then obviously it鈥檚 going to work on Earth,鈥� says independent anthropologist and business consultant Patricia Sunderland.

Now, however, a new era seems to be beginning, one in which brands without any obvious link with space go into orbit 鈥� hence the seemingly random objects on that SpaceX rocket.

The football was sent by Adidas, the green slime by children鈥檚 TV network Nickelodeon and the cookie oven is the property of the DoubleTree hotel chain. The payload also included objects from other firms.

This is possible because of a published in June that allows companies to buy time and space on the ISS to produce, test and market their products. Privately funded astronauts will even be able to visit the space station from 2020 鈥� for $35,000 plus substantial launch costs.

But why exactly a company would want to bake a cookie in space isn鈥檛 entirely obvious.

The companies claim there are good reasons for dispatching these objects. The cookies will be the first items baked in space, in an oven developed especially for that purpose. If it works, it could be a significant step towards cooking in orbit. Astronauts normally eat rehydrated food and there have been raw ingredients. Cooking could be useful 鈥� and comforting 鈥� on longer missions, such as trips to Mars.

The slime was sent to orbit because, as a non-Newtonian fluid that behaves like something between a liquid and a solid, its behaviour in microgravity will be unintuitive. Astronauts will film themselves playing with the slime 鈥� hitting it back and forth with ping-pong paddles, or blowing it into bubbles. It is an educational opportunity, says Michael Roberts, deputy chief scientist for the ISS National Laboratory, where the experiments will be performed.

鈥淲hy exactly a company would want to bake a cookie in space isn鈥檛 entirely obvious鈥�

In truth, though, the main lure of these experiments is the PR. 鈥淚 think we would be naive not to assume that the long-term goal is probably more on the marketing side,鈥� says Roberts.

What鈥檚 in it for NASA? The short answer is money. Past interactions with companies such as pharmaceutical firms were mainly about making the most of what could be done research-wise on the ISS. The further opening up announced in June is a step towards facilitating a space-based economy that brings in cash for the agency.

That is particularly important right now. Funding for the ISS comes from several countries, including Russia, and it is unclear how long each will keep the taps on. US funding is set to end in 2025. NASA officials have talked about handing over their side to companies at that point. Then, the agency could still rent out parts of a laboratory in space while using the lion鈥檚 share of the money it currently spends on the ISS on bigger and better things. Like going back to the moon, and then on to Mars.

鈥淭his is all an experiment, but it is an absolutely necessary one,鈥� says Mary Lynne Dittmar at the Coalition for Deep Space Exploration advocacy group. 鈥淚f there is to be any possibility of sustained economic activity in low Earth orbit, the ISS is the only means at present to explore this.鈥�

There are potential downsides to the further privatisation of space. It may mean less stringent regulation. Earlier this month, news emerged that the Israel-made Beresheet spacecraft brought thousands of tiny organisms called tardigrades with it when it crash-landed on the moon in April. These creatures can survive in space and so may now be living, more or less, on the moon. Agencies like NASA take great care to sterilise spacecraft so that other places are shielded from Earth鈥檚 living things.

The marketing plans could also backfire on the companies. 鈥淎 failing Toyota part on a critical piece of equipment or slime gumming up a piece of equipment on the ISS would create negative publicity,鈥� says Drew Martin, who studies marketing at the University of South Carolina.

Longer term, having the brands we encounter all the time in space could make it feel less cold and sterile, and more familiar. If a Toyota is driving around on the moon, we might be able to imagine a city there. If astronauts can play with the same slime as children鈥檚 entertainers, kids might imagine themselves doing so in orbit, too. Having brands in space could normalise human activity up there.

鈥淚t鈥檚 about making what we know to be the human experience translatable to space,鈥� says space consultant Laura Forczyk.

In principle, then, the brands in space could benefit everyone. Brands get good PR, NASA gets paid and the rest of us get an opportunity to dream about a home far from home. If the space economy continues to grow, that dream may someday come true.