Space Emergency Rescue Solutions
Presents
The FreeFly Astronaut Project
An endeavour to fly higher, longer and faster whilst developing the human capability, procedures, protocols, equipment and technology to enable future space travellers to return safely from high-altitude/low-Earth-orbit in the event of a space emergency.
“Be a part of the most dramatic series of human SpaceFlights ever undertaken…”
The NewSpace and emerging Space Tourism industries urgently need a method to safely and efficiently bring people – crew, passengers and tourists – back to Earth in the event of catastrophic spacecraft failure, or space emergency.
Currently there is no Plan B… no ‘Life Vest’ for space!
Background
The FreeFly Astronaut Project was founded in 2009 by ‘Father of FreeFly’ Olav Zipser.
SpaceDive – The Mission
Develop the human capability, procedures, protocols, equipment & technology to fly Higher, Longer and Faster – building up to a sub-orbital human re-entry from above the 100 km Kármán Line… a true space altitude!
Mission parameters include windtunnel testing & training, parabolic arc micro-gravity and high altitude flight testing & training from a variety of platforms including aircraft, balloons and rockets.
Spacesuit
A range of new generation Bio-Mechanical Flex-Wing Space Activity Suits is being developed, and will be tested & proven as the project progresses through its various milestones.
Human SpaceFlight Safety
Once we achieve the world’s first true SpaceDive, we’ll have solved one of the great issues of safety in human space flight – and achieved a goal that will benefit every space traveller in the future.
Records
Each of our target altitude missions will set multiple aeronautic and astronautic records – and each successive mission will break them, and set them anew.
Impact
Our achievements collectively will make a significant impact on the future of human space flight and an immeasurable contribution towards shaping the next generation of aeronautic, astronautic, and NewSpace related technologies, markets, and industries.
Positions Available
Tell us about your specialist skills and experience.
Apply to be part of our team, an official advisor, or one of our test pilots.
Join Us
Join us and be part of not only the world’s first true SpaceDive, but also the development of procedures, protocols, equipment & technology toward saving lives in this exciting era of private spaceflight and space tourism.
Register
Limited information will be made publicly available.
More information will be provided to registered and approved community members.
Core Team
Olav Zipser
Olav is a highly accomplished multiple time world champion Sports Emmy Award winning skydiver.
Pioneer of FreeFly and founder of; The First School of Modern SkyFlying; Atmosphere Dolphin FreeFly Licence Program; Space Games; and FreeFly Astronaut Project, Olav has dedicated 30 years of his life to research, development, teaching and training in human body flight around the world.
Mike Rumble
Mike has worked closely with Olav on developing the FreeFly Astronaut Project since the pair teamed up for the SkyDive for Rhinos campaign, which raised funds for on-the-ground, front-line anti-poaching efforts in South Africa.
Drop Zone Operator of the successful Mother City SkyDiving in Cape Town, Mike organises and manages high-profile skydiving events and displays, and has world-wide entrepreneurial business experience.
Our team includes the support of specialists, pioneers and visionaries from around the world…
Advisors / Support Team
Gregory Gottlieb
Gregory’s 20 year career in the British Army culminated in his appointment as the UK Ministry of Defence Officer responsible for all counter-terrorism and special forces aviation equipment requirements.
A recognised global expert in the development and operation of lighter-than-air technologies, Gregory is a senior aerospace executive and MD of Airships Arabia.
Alexander Pyzin
Former vice-president of S.P. Korolev Rocket & Space Corporation Energia, Alexander has a wide range of experience working in specialist space industry services around the world.
Energia is the largest company of the Russian space industry and one of its key players. It is responsible for all operations involving human spaceflight, is the lead developer of the Soyuz and Progress spacecraft, and the Russian end of the International Space Station. Energia is Russia's major contractor for its manned space program, responsible for all Russian flight operations.
John Narraway
Bermuda Business Development Agency Consultant for Emerging & Exponential Technologies and Chairman of Bermuda’s Blockchain Business Development working group, John is a veteran in the global startup and technology space.
John has held several C-level positions in both private and publicly traded companies along with creating several technology based ventures.
Mads Larsen
Mads Larsen is the Co-founder of Larsen & Brusgaard (L&B), a mechanical and electronic engineer, inventor and successful entrepreneur.
L&B design and manufacture specialist digital equipment for the skydiving industry worldwide, their numerous inventions have greatly enhanced skydiving safety around the world.
Bill Coe
Bill is the founder and president of world-class parachute manufacturer Performance Designs Inc.
Performance Designs have introduced numerous cutting-edge concepts and materials to the parachute industry, revolutionising parachute design and setting parachute industry standards around the world.
Over 35 years the company has grown to more than 300 employees and builds 300+ varieties of parachutes.
Helmut Cloth
Helmut is the founder and President of Airtec GmbH & Co.KG Safety Systems, and the inventor of the CYbernetic Parachute RElease System (CYPRES).
Since the first CYPRES unit was sold 28 years ago, 198,000+ units have been produced, and 4,000+ skydivers lives saved.
More than 123,000,000+ jumps have been made using a CYPRES... with 100% reliability.
Helmut has received every major award for his technical achievements, and CYPRES has been bestowed with some of the highest awards in the skydiving and aviation industries.
Graham Field
A highly accomplished veteran skydiver with 30+ years in the sport, Graham was involved in the design and testing of modern day ram air parachutes, holds 32 national titles, and has been awarded Aero Club Gold Wings in recognition for outstanding service to sports aviation.
Graham is the Chairman of Parachute Association of South Africa, a Show Jump Operator, and Drop Zone Operator / Chief Instructor for a number of drop zones in South Africa, Qatar and the Maldives.
Tracy Lee Walker
Tracy is a veteran Skydiver, BASE Jumper and Specialist Parachute Technician with 30 + years experience.
He has provided his expertise to a number of extreme projects including Redbull Stratos and Redbull English Channel Crossing projects.
Denys Bulikhov
Denys is a former US Army paratrooper and parachute rigger with a Master of Science degree in Space Studies.
Currently working towards his PhD in Industrial Engineering (Human Factors in Aerospace) he is working under the Center of Excellence Partnership to Enhance General Aviation Safety, Accessibility and Sustainability (PEGASAS) for the FAA, and busy conducting academic research into space diving and limitations of emergency escape from altitudes above Karman line without a vehicle.
Nikolay Moiseev
Nikolay Moiseev brings over 20 years of space suit experience from the Russian space suit agency Zvezda, and is one of the few engineers to work with all of the current in-service space suit designs, including America’s EMU and ACES, and the Russian Orlan and Sokol.
He received a Masters of Aeronautical Engineering from the Moscow Aviation Institute in 1986, and left Zvezda, as the lead space suit designer, in 2006
He is the Co-founder, Lead Designer and Chief Engineer of Final Frontier Design, a Brooklyn-based spacesuit company that was awarded a NASA Space Act Agreement in 2014.
Final Frontier Design is a private design firm developing and manufacturing next generation space suits for the emerging commercial space industry.
Tommaso Sgobba
Tommaso is Executive Director of the International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety (IAASS).
Working for the European Space Agency (ESA) from 1989 to 2013 Tommaso supported the developments of the Ariane 5 launcher and several earth observation and meteorological satellites; was responsible for flight safety including human-rated systems, spacecraft re-entries, space debris, use of nuclear power sources, and planetary protection; and was Product Assurance and Safety Manager for all European manned missions on Shuttle, MIR station, and for the European research facilities of the International Space Station (ISS).
Tommaso has published several books, articles and papers on space safety and is the inventor of the R-DBAS (Re-entry, Direct Broadcasting Alert System), designed to alert air traffic of falling fragments from uncontrolled space system re-entry.
He holds an M.S. in Aeronautical Engineering from the Polytechnic of Turin (Italy), where he was also professor of space system safety (1999-2001). He chaired the ESA ISS Payload Safety Review Panel for 10 years, and received the NASA recognition for outstanding contribution to the International Space Station in 2004 as well as the prestigious NASA Space Flight Awareness (SFA) Award in 2007.
Could be you
Positions Available
Could be you
Positions Available
Could be you
Positions Available
Could be you
Positions Available
External Support
International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety (IAASS)
“Committed to furthering the international cooperation and scientific advancement in space systems safety the IAASS sees the FreeFly Astronaut Project as the next important step in the right direction toward advancing space safety science for future of human spaceflight, space tourism, and space exploration.”
“The objectives of the FreeFly Astronaut Project align with the mission and goals of the IAASS and we are pleased to give our encouragement and to offer expert input, support and assistance to the objectives of this scientific research project.”
Tommaso Sgobba
IAASS – Executive Director
International Parachuting Commission (IPC)
“The IPC would like to express its unambiguous support for the latest endeavour of Mr Zipser, the FreeFly Astronaut Project.”
“I am convinced he is qualified to make this project a success.”
Ronald Overdijk
Chair IPC Artistic Events Committee
Reference Articles
FreeFly Astronaut Project Timeline
Rationale
Less than 600 people have been to ‘space’ since Yuri Gagarin made the first human orbital spaceflight back in April 1961 – to date only 24 humans have travelled beyond low-Earth-orbit.
Dennis Tito became the first fee-paying space tourist in 2001, and Mark Shuttleworth the second in 2002. A total of seven private citizens have now paid between $20 and $40 million to travel with Ruscosmos atop Soyuz rockets to the International Space Station.
In 2004, flying separate flights in SpaceShipOne, Mike Melville and Brian Binne achieved the first privately funded and flown space flights, winning the US$10 million Ansari X Prize and becoming the first private astronauts in the process.
With SpaceX already delivering cargo to the ISS – and working towards manned missions to Mars within the next ten to twelve years – and with space tourism companies such as Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin already preparing to fly passengers to suborbital space, the discussion must now move towards ensuring the safety of the growing numbers of space travellers in this NewSpace era.
It would be naive to believe that the NewSpace era will evolve without incident and, in the absence of real data, estimates of passenger safety and vehicle reliability may be unrealistically optimistic. Current designs and thinking offer limited possibilities for survival in the event of space emergencies.
The lack of procedures and protocols for worst-case scenarios in launch, suborbital, and orbital space emergencies has already resulted in the loss of the lives of two space shuttle crews.
Technologies and protocols for survival in space emergencies will become standard for commercial human space flights as soon as such equipment and protocols are available. But until then, and until every member of every crew has an emergency escape option, all human space flights should be regarded as purely experimental.
The world currently finds itself at a pivotal time in space exploration. Passenger safety is paramount, and it will play a major part in the sustainability of this new era of private spaceflight and space tourism.
Join Us
Join us and be part of not only the world’s first true SpaceDive, but also the development of procedures, protocols, equipment & technology toward saving lives in this exciting era of private spaceflight and space tourism.
Register
Limited information will be made publicly available.
More information will be provided to registered and approved community members.
The FreeFly Astronaut Project
An endeavour to fly Higher, Longer and Faster whilst developing the human capability, procedures, protocols, equipment and technology to enable future space travellers to return safely from high-altitude / low-Earth-orbit in the event of a space emergency.
Space Emergency Rescue Solutions (SERS)
Please direct all enquiries to: