Coral: physical R&D site selection

Co-Founder, Space Cooperative

Purpose of this thread: to discuss the physical location where we should perform the real-world R&D necessary for Coral.

Context:
At our operations teleconference yesterday (October 3rd PDT at 20:00) one of the items we discussed was the necessity to select a real-world location to perform the R&D necessary for Coral. We didn't dive too deeply into it, but without waffling any more, these are the kinds of considerations that one or more team members have raised so far:
* proximity to other parts of the space industry (manufacturers, contractors, clients, launch providers, etc.)
* availability of necessary resources for R&D (simulant, transportation access, etc.)
* the regulatory environment at the selected location (boring but necessary legal considerations)
* ability of team members to be physically present on a regular basis
* quality of life for team members at the proposed location
* the economic sense of a given location (e.g. rent vs. the income that pays that rent)

The meeting attendees wholly agreed that this isn't a question we can fully answer at the moment and that it's one that we will eventually need to answer in order to reach point B: a lunar landing! So there are no wrong answers or dumb questions. There are only cases to be made and information to share.

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Suzana Bianco

Space Architect

This is quite a tough challenge! Are we talking anywhere in the world, or are we limited to the USA? We know industry/manufacturing/rent can be much cheaper in certain parts of the world, but then we need to weign in the logistics costs that we would inevitably have, as well as the cost of having members present there. It wouldn't necessarily have to be a permanent testing facility - maybe we could have an itinerant lab, perhaps in a container, and we could move it to the location most suited for each test phase. Or is that too far-fetched?

Patrick A.U.R. Donovan

Co-Founder, Space Cooperative

Good question; I should have said locations instead of location to avoid artificially constraining this topic. Anywhere in the world should be on the table for now. The U.S. has its own pros and cons and I don't want to discount the remaining 93.4% of land area or 95% of humanity.

Shipping a lab internationally could get pricey, but I don't have any numbers or comparisons to back it up.

Jason Stone

Software Development/Government Design

If at some point in the testing we need an extreme environment to test in, we should consider Svalbard, Norway. It is a VISA free location where anyone in the world can stay indefinitly. There are already some interesting people there exploring different forms of governance. Coral testing could present us with a good opportunity to meet people in Svalbard and evaluate whether or not it is a good location for a future model city!

Coral: physical R&D site selection

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