In an attempt to fill the gaps of the current space strategies and meet the objectives derived in section 1.4, four competing strategy concepts were chosen and completed to the preliminary design stage. The four strategies were named: Spirit of Apollo, NEOs-Mars, Political Reality, and "Step-by-step". Although the strategies were similar in their approach to expansion of human presence in the solar system, the distinguishing characteristic of each strategy was defined by what celestial body they explored first. The following paragraphs provide a brief overview of these strategies.

Spirit of Apollo Strategy

The Apollo Revival strategy focuses on the short-term objective of returning to the Moon. This plan aims to build on the legacy of the former Apollo Moon project, which led to a giant leap in the development of space technologies. In this spirit, the Moon would serve as a testing ground for developing new technologies required to expand human presence in the solar system. The Moon would become a technological, scientific, and economic "window" on the universe.

NEOs-Mars Strategy

The NEOs-Mars strategy plans to expand human presence away from the Earth by first exploring NEOs. The rationale for targeting NEOs first in the strategy is that these bodies can be used to provide resources needed for the continued exploration of the solar system. Once NEOs are explored, they can serve as ideal relay points for other mission to Mars or to the Moon.

Political Reality Strategy

The third strategy focuses on the human exploration of Mars. Arguments for beginning exploration on Mars include the search for extra terrestrial life, scientific knowledge pursuits and the current political reality of space exploration. Strategies focusing on Mars will push technological and scientific advances to a greater extent than those going to the Moon. This is because Mars is on the cutting edge of modern technology. A current advantage of proceeding to Mars first is that some of the world's space strategies have a some sort of plan in place for Mars exploration at this time. This strategy can take advantage of that momentum to advance human exploration away from Earth.

Step-by-Step Strategy

The final proposed strategy calls for a fast-paced and internationally co-ordinated series of focused missions to explore various targets in the solar system. No specific celestial target is defined as the first step but the real emphasis of the strategy is to use the destinations as a means to further the development of a global space infrastructure. Furthermore, the strategy emphasizes shifting the government's role in space exploration towards the private sector. One way this can be accomplished is by offering prizes to competing teams in events that would further space exploration. The final focus of the strategy is to promote exploration in manageable steps, thus avoiding the cost and technological risks associated with the other, more aggressive, strategies.

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