The age of space commercialisation has truly arrived with a paradigm shift; space is no longer the domain of just governments or national space agencies. Increasingly private entities of all sizes can undertake activities in space.
Space launch activity is commonplace with reusable boosters returning to earth, orbital payload deployment from airborne aircraft, fare paying crews buying passage to the ISS (International Space Station), private companies on track to land missions on Mars and micro satellites making space research and commerce a reality for many. Numerous industries have benefitted and utilised space as another business environment or platform.
Since Sputnik 1 was launched in October 1957 space has been a hotly contended battleground initially for military advantage and now commerce. Luckily we as a race came to our senses and realised the use of space must be for peaceful purposes and for the benefit of all. Numerous agreements, accords and treaties came into existence to ensure space is used peacefully, fairly and equally by all, with no one nation claiming sovereignty.
This environment of goodwill and concordance remains in place as we progress in space activities allowing many sectors to benefit. But one business area has never been able to fully thrive from space commercialisation; advertising.
Brands and agencies have yet to fully capitalise from the current boom in space operations. The space industry is now worth quite literally astronomical amounts and this will only grow as operations increase. Any business sector left out should feel suitably aggrieved by the potential loss of earnings.
There has been advertising in space, but was very short lived and mainly comprised product placements of fast food, milk cartons and various items of technological paraphernalia. As expected agencies and operators are constrained by various rules designed to limit size, visibility and duration.
So can advertising from space ever be a reality? It seems unlikely, especially since the introduction of 14 CFR Parts 404, 413, and 420 — Miscellaneous Changes to Commercial Space Transportation Regulations and in particular 49 U.S.C. 70102, which bans the use of obtrusive advertising entities or methods which are defined as:
‘‘advertising in outer space that is capable of being recognized by a human being on the surface of the Earth without the aid of a telescope or other technological device.’’
Speak to people and seek their views on how they think space advertising can manifest itself and most will say ‘space banners’ or ‘billboards on the moon or in orbit’ which is a direct contravention of the restriction above as such an entity will need to be visible from earth to convey the desired message. So to advertise from space the advertising entity will need to be seen from space. But if it’s seen from the Earth’s surface with the unaided eye, it constitutes an obstructive advertising entity, which is not permitted. Stalemate, hence no usable space advertising method. Also such a huge banner will obliterate everything from its position to infinity from the observer’s point of view, which makes it very likely important astronomical events will be missed. Compound this with the proliferation of such banners and the night sky becomes littered.
Given the above and the very short lives of the few ‘space ads’ thus far, it would seem there is no way to introduce a repeatable and perpetual space advertising method. And this is certainly the belief of the majority. How can you bring ads from space without the use of banners and billboards in orbit?
The creator of LunAds™ did not accept the current situation and set out to devise a new way of advertising from space which most importantly won’t be regarded as an obtrusive advertising entity. Using creative and lateral thinking he devised LunAds™ and sent it off to his patent attorney. Six years after he sat down to solve the problem, LunAds™ was awarded a patent and trademark.
LunAds™ now makes a perpetual, repeatable and non obtrusive advertising method from space a reality.
What is LunAds™ and How is it Different From The Other Space Advertising Attempts?
LunAds™ is a non obstructive, repeatable and perpetual advertising method designed to bring ads from space to devices on Earth.
A satellite in lunar orbit projects ads onto the lunar surface. The satellite films the images it just projected and transmits them to an earthbound satellite array, and then directly to devices anywhere. This responsible method is not obtrusive and does not alter the lunar canvas in any way.
This method ensures ads created by LunAds™ are not visible from Earth with an unaided eye so remain within the limitations placed on space advertising, similar to that mentioned above. This compromise will satisfy regulations and allow space advertising to become a reality by leaving space and the lunar surface unaltered. The schematic depiction is shown below:
Financial and Practical Viability of LunAds™
Armed with his patent and trademark, the creator of LunAds™ realised the hard work had now begun and started to use his time on furlough to generate interest and traction. LunAds™ was very fortunate to discover and partner with a company in the Mojave Desert, California, who appreciated the ingenuity and potential of this new method and have agreed to develop, build, launch, deploy and support LunAds™ going forward. They believe LunAds™ is achievable and can be operational within a year.
When talking about space and its associated activities, huge expenses and endless pits of money are conjured up in the imagination. Costs of programs, such as Apollo, ISS, Space Shuttle and the numerous deep space missions are significant and can devour appreciable proportions of a national budget. But, this is not the case with LunAds™, as its partner’s costs are up to 200 times cheaper than the competition. Given their impressive pedigree and experience, the creator of LunAds™ is very confident of success.
To place this into context, the cost to develop, build, launch and deploy LunAds™ is commensurate to a month’s spend on advertising for some of the larger brands. Any forward thinking agency or brand should be able to see the benefit of a comparatively low spend in order to advertise from space. In addition, the first brands or agencies to agree a licensing deal with LunAds™ will enjoy exclusivity and become the envy of their peers.
LunAds™’ Attributes
LunAds™ is a perpetual space advertising solution. The first adopter will make their mark in history as the first to advertise in this way from space. But the novelty will not wear off as LunAds™ is a repeatable space advertising solution. Using an advertising method only once then discarding it, is not cost effective and LunAds™ will have a long life delivering great earning potential and return on investment (ROI).
LunAds™ is an innovative experiential platform and can add to the wide array of advertising options available in this environment and be used as a unique medium in campaigns and mass participation events. Data and statistical gathering is possible, which can be used to measure clicks, effectiveness, conversions, loyalty and other required information during customers’ discovery experience across various touch points. It can also prove effective in the customer Emotional Selling Proposition journey and within the B2B and B2C experience.
Given its use with smart devices, LunAds™ can integrate into metric and analytic software to give monetisation figures which report on:
- Reach, Impressions and Click Through Rate (CTR)
- Cost per Thousand (CPM)
- Pay per Click
- Conversion and Conversion Rate
- ROI
LunAds™ adopters may be seen as ‘super solver brands’ with responsible use of space and technology for the progress of the population. LunAds™ challenges current practices and can serve as a disruptor to ‘normal’ advertising channels in such a way which follows the ‘fun theory’. Once deployed and operational, Earthbound observers with powerful telescopes can ‘LunAds spot’ during events — this in itself may spark a separate following and interest with mass participation events.
LunAds™ is responsible and environmentally friendly. Some proposed missions to the moon have made no secret of their aim to mine the moon for its minerals and resources. Such missions will make irreversible changes to the lunar surface and geology. The LunAds™ mission is simple, orbit the moon, project images onto the lunar surface, film those images and transmit them to user devices; a simple, safe and responsible space advertising solution. At no point will there be physical contact with or alteration of the moon.
What Now?
Interest in space is increasing and with it the commercialisation of this new frontier. LunAds™ delivers the long waited for space advertising method. The first adopters will secure exclusive licensing rights, mark their entrance and blaze a trail into space commercialisation and advertising history.
This is an open invitation to anyone who is serious and interested in advertising from space to contact the creator of LunAds™ via the website below and let’s rewrite the manual on advertising.
