ESA Hatches Plan For Made In Space Branding

The European Space Agency has a plan for a branding campaign that it hopes will help people become more aware of the benefits of spending tax money on the ISS. I think most people in the US have a pretty strong notion of some interesting consumer products that come about from the space program. The ESA wants a made in space branding campaign to help people understand the real-world value and products that come from space research and development.

The list of products that have been derived from technology rooted in space research ranges from memory foam to the in-ear thermometer. It's important for the ESA to gain public support for the space program because the estimated bill for ISS operations is $130 billion including running costs over the next decade. The chunk the ESA has to pay for totals €8 billion.

Research in the microgravity of orbit has led to various advances and the ESA wants to make everyone aware of those advances. It's not clear what the branding plan will be like, but I can envision "Made in Space" stickers and tags on products. I think this is interesting and it would be a good way to help the public understand what sort of products out there use technology derived in space.

[via MSNBC]