Importance of Space Commercialization

Importance of Space Commercialization
Due to the advancement of space technologies the possibility of space commercialization has not only become probable, but extremely feasible and profitable. For the past 60 years the Space Race has been a competition solely between governments. It has only been recently that private companies and large organizations have been able to produce space technology independently. The largest promoter and supporter of privately developed space technology is the X-Prize Foundation. A non-profit organization oriented toward educating the public, the Foundation was created by Dr. Peter H. Daimandis to spur competition in the private sector for developing creative breakthroughs in space technology.
Basing his beliefs on examples in history, Dr. Daimandis believed that if one company or person was capable of achieving or creating something new or something formally believed impossible, other persons would follow. One of his examples was the first crossing of the Atlantic by a single person, Lindbergh in the Spirit of St. Louis. After Lindbergh did "the impossible" applications for pilot licenses increased by 300% and the passenger count of the (limited) airlines of the time increased by a factor of 30! Without developing any new technology, Lindbergh simply showed what was possible through determination and stubbornness.
The X-Prize Foundation was not the only organization to believe in the future of space commercialization, in 1998 the American government created in the Department of Commerce the Office of Space Commercialization to oversee policy creation concerning space commerce and industry in the U.S. commercial space industry.
Robert Goddard, in March 1926, created and launched the first liquid fueled rocket giving him the moniker "the father of modern rocketry". Only 21 years later the Soviet Union successfully launched and placed into orbit the first artificial satellite, Sputnik. Although the size of a basketball its place in history is enormous, the beginning of the Space Race.
Thirty two years later the United States government created the National Space and Aeronautics Administration, the precursor to NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration). Beginning with a budget of only $100 million and 8,000 employees, within the first year of operation they created and launched America's first orbital satellite, the Pioneer III. Three years after the creation of NSAA, President John F. Kennedy gave his historical speech announcing the intention of landing men on the moon.
Ten years after the beginning of NSAA, only 22 years after the world's first artificial satellite, Apollo 8 brought mankind to moon. But unfortunately it was only 4 years later in 1972 that humans stopped walking on the moon. The Space Race has since carried on to developing the International Space Station (ISS), Space Shuttles, and exploring other planets in the Solar System through satellites and robots. All of this advancement and research has been funded by various national governments.
But now private companies are entering the space competition. The X-Prize Foundation's challenge to private companies was for the development of a reusable spacecraft; with a turnaround faster than the government funded Space Shuttle. SpaceShipOne entered into the history books on October 4, 2004 as the first privately built and manned spacecraft to achieve orbital height twice within a two week period.
The Space Shuttle's primary design was developed during the 1970's, and 30 years later the same basic design is still being used, with upgrades in computers and hardware of course. The biggest difference between the Space Shuttle and SpaceShipOne is SpaceShipOne takes off and lands like an airplane, instead of taking off vertically like a rocket. This makes it cheaper to produce and maintain, and allows for a faster turnaround between flights.
SpaceShipOne, a combined effort by Virgin Group of Companies and Scaled Composites, led the way for the proposal of a privately operated spaceport. The New Mexico Spaceport is being built by Virgin Galactic (a subsidiary of Virgin Group) and will allow for private individuals the chance to travel into space.
Today we have improved medicines, faster computers, plastic composites, metal alloys, and toys that seem to have originated in science fiction novels, all thanks to space technology. Space technology has helped shape our current society in subtle ways too, enough for someone to write a book about it, The Hidden Revolution by Jim Schefter.
The development of SpaceShipOne was funded by Paul Allen, Microsoft's co-founder. For the developments to be kept privately owned, all funding must come from the private sector. This creates a problem for the general public. It takes a lot of money to develop space technologies, money that comes from the profits of commercial companies. These profits are derived from the spending habits of the general public. To have more profits to put into research, profits must be increased. This is done (generally) by decreasing production costs and/or increasing prices on products or services.
But is the public ready to pay for a privately funded space program when they already are funding government programs through taxes? There may not be a choice in the matter. Already private companies are researching and developing for the next X-Prize, the Lunar Lander Challenge with a prize of $2.5 million. No one has been on the moon in 35 years; it just might be time for a private organization to return us to the moon.
Why is it so important for mankind to return to the moon? With the low gravity of the moon, scientific research that is not possible here in Earth's gravity well would be possible. The range of technological advancements that could be possible would require a book to list.
For 61 years the governments of Earth of competed in a race for new space technology. Space technology has been proven unequivocally useful and important in the advancement of our society. Government funded research is a pitfall of red tape, secrecy, and is sometimes overseen by ill-experienced or non-qualified people.
Attempting to predict the impact space technology would have on our society in the future would almost be impossible to forecast, as would any new innovation. Maybe we shouldn't be concentrating strictly on the predictable benefits of space technology, but go the route as said by President John F. Kennedy; "We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too."
It's not that hard to support the development of a private space industry. Simply support the corporations and organizations that provide the funding, support their ideas and decisions. The Space Race is already integrated into our society, cell phones, all communications, GPS, weather forecasting, ecological sciences, medical science, etc. Any knowledge acquired is never a waste of time. Do not allow government regulations and red tape stagnate the future development of our society, support space commercialization.


I work primarily in AutoCad and Engineering, with a Bachelor Degree in something completely unrelated after 3 years as a Engineering Physics major.Commercialization of Space by Private Companies

Posted in: space