The 77th International Space Congress, organized by the International Astronautical Federation (IAF), is being held at Antalya NEST Congress Center under the coordination of the Ministry of Industry and Technology and co-hosted by the Turkish Space Agency (TUA) and SAHA Istanbul.
Axiom Space Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jonathan Cirtain said in his evaluation that he was wondering how security regarding the use of artificial intelligence should be handled.
Stating that there are many opportunities offered not only by pioneering artificial intelligence models but also by developments in how processing power is combined, Cirtain said, "In addition to the pioneering models developed by companies such as Anthropic and OpenAI, there are other types of artificial intelligence tools that I believe benefit us. There are also models that put these capabilities into operation in the operations of vehicles in space so that we can use the data produced in space more effectively." he said.
"The U.S. government's defense posture is independent of Axiom Station's operational planning."
Cirtain stated that there is a race to create a space economy and that they can use microgravity as a resource.
Stating that when valuable resources are found, it is natural for people to want to use them for their own benefit, Cirtain said, "The ISS has carried out a 25-year research and development process to show the usage areas of microgravity. Now, it is time to use these microgravity capabilities for the benefit of people on Earth. Therefore, I think this race is for the use of resources." he said.
Cirtain stated that there is a geopolitical race between the USA, Europe, Japan and Canada regarding the exploration of the Moon and the resources there, so it is an exciting time to be in space.
Evaluating the US Space Force's presence of "space control weapons" in orbit, Cirtain said, "I think what the US government can do within the scope of its defense posture is independent of Axiom Station's activity planning. The issue of orbital debris is definitely a situation that needs to be taken into consideration when flying vehicles in space." he said.
Cirtain said that as more spacecraft are deployed, it will be necessary to have more advanced methods of managing the use of low orbit, and that they hope to use this resource wisely and not oversaturate the orbit, which will increase the risk of collision or avoidance maneuvers in space.
"We will be in orbit before the ISS is decommissioned"
Cirtain stated that they are expecting demand from NASA for the supply of services to replace the ISS and that they are using their own capital to build their own space stations.
Stating that they are currently in the process of completing the production of two modules, Cirtain said, "We will launch these two modules in 2028 and 2029. The ISS is not planned to be retired before 2030. Therefore, we will be in orbit and operational before the ISS is decommissioned." he said.
"Commercial space stations are needed now"
Cirtain said that while the ISS is revealing how microgravity can be used, it is researching products that have real value for people, rather than producing commercial products.
Stating that the biggest example of this is the drug for the treatment of blood cancer, Cirtain gave the following information:
When produced in space, it is more effective on patients than when produced on earth. Crystals grown in space are better than those grown on earth. This process resulted in a better medicine. If you could produce this medicine in space, patients could benefit more as a result. So this is just one example of the benefits of microgravity. Commercial space stations are now needed to actually produce these products so that humans can benefit from this capacity.
Cirtain stated that it cooperates with universities in Türkiye to develop research programs with the structure created by Axiom Space called "University Alliance".
Stating that they helped them understand how to produce the necessary research payload and how to transform a ground-based experiment into a space-based experiment, Cirtain said:
