It was July 16, 1969.

The world sat on the edge of its seat, waiting in suspense…

This epic feat in human history began with a challenge by President Kennedy to put a man on the moon before the decade was out. #MissionAccomplished

Today, in 2019, this historic moment celebrates its 50th anniversary as a feat once thought impossible, and also became the foundational theme of this year’s 70th International Aeronautical Congress, Space : The power of the past, the promise of the future.

This past October, the global aerospace community gathered in Washington, DC to develop a roadmap of the future of space exploration.

Here’s a look at some of the things that stood out to us the most from the conference:

The space community is passionate

As we journeyed twitterverse throughout the week, following the hashtag #IAC2019, it was clear that while there still may be much to do in humanity's space explorations - there is certainly no lack of energy in accomplishing it. We were inspired by the people who rallied behind some of the most complex 'wicked problems' that the space industry faces. Bottom line - people believe in a future that includes the outreaches of our galaxy as a place to call home.

We're not done with the moon

There seemed to be a clear consensus that 47 years is far too long a gap for North America to visit our lunar companion - the moon. People want to see more research completed with innovative, new technologies, which has led to the creation of NASA's Artemis lunar exploration program whose commitment is to land American astronauts, including the first woman and the next man, on the Moon by 2024.

There's a resurgence in space exploration

In addition to the passionate base of enthusiasts, we are also now seeing a rise in investments and efforts for private and commercial travel into space.

From Amazon mastermind Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin program, to the infamous Elon Musk's SpaceX to Virgin empires' Sir Richard Bransons' Virgin Galactic, we are the dawn of a new type of 'space race'. (I don't think many of us ever imagined ten years ago that we would be working our way to a time where we could take a vacation to space, and go back to work a few days later. This truly is an exciting time to be alive!)

Add to this government support from the international community, which was a big rallying-objective for the conference, the ambitious goals to reach out farther has no limits to how much we can collaborate innovations that are out of this world. The only remaining question is - will we?

Advances in technology are revolutionizing what's possible

Don't have your own space vehicle? No worries, just 'Uber' it.

Yup, you heard us correctly - believe it or not there is currently a rideshare opportunity being created - Destination: The Moon.

The technological advances are also impressive. The ability to design and produce with shorter lead times and at lower costs, is allowing for rapid prototyping of space-related hardware and software systems.

At Dena Technologies, it’s this last point that excites us the most. We collaborate with innovators closely on a daily basis, where we see first-hand the power and impact of technological ideas that come to fruition. We feel humbled and grateful that we are able to support them as a fully North American based PCB designer and assembler, enabling them to prototype quickly and efficiently.

With this in mind, if you have a space technology idea that you either want to build as a start-up, or integrate within your current organization’s operations, let’s talk. We’ll show you how our design and assembly expertise can help you achieve your goals, and go to market quickly.

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Space / Our Past & Future