Space: The Final Frontier
“It’s human nature to stretch, to go, to see, to understand. Exploration is not a choice really; it’s an imperative,” — Michael Collins, Apollo 11 astronaut
A dim light of space travel quickly evolved into a beacon of promise and opportunity as several private companies took up the challenge of space travel and privatization. As the technology from companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin continues to make strides toward an affordable and effective method of space travel, space travel only becomes more critical to the future of Earth and our species. Interplanetary travel and habitation was only a dream in the past, but with the current rate of research and development occurring in the private space market, the concept is becoming more tangible with each successful launch.
Recent Developments in Space Travel
There are several major players in the privatized space race, with some prominent names being SpaceX and Blue Origin. SpaceX was founded on May 6, 2002 by Elon Musk and has come a long way from its initial steps to space exploration.
Recently, Musk and SpaceX have made several strides towards commercial space travel, with the development and launch of various specialized rockets and missions. One primary development in SpaceX’s history is the Falcon 9, the first orbital spacecraft capable of “re-flight”, or able to be reused and launched again. Capable of being reused after initial launches, the Falcon 9 is built for the transport of cargo and people into space. While not all parts of the rocket will be reusable, the Falcon 9 decreases the costs massively by conserving the more essential and expensive parts. Alternatively, the Falcon Heavy is by far the most powerful rocket in the world, capable of lifting nearly 141,000 pounds into space. The Falcon Heavy is comprised of several of the engines that allow the Falcon 9 to enter orbit, allowing it to output more than five million pounds of thrust at liftoff. Designed to carry a significantly larger cargo than the Falcon 9, the Falcon Heavy demonstrates the wide range of developments that SpaceX has produced in the recent years. Another one of SpaceX’s projects includes the Dragon spacecraft, designed and specialized to carry passengers to and from the Earth’s orbit.
The Dragon spacecraft has made 25 trips to the International Space Station, with an impressive 10 reflown trips. Because of its ability to “refly” and transport passengers into space, the Dragon will likely comprise the majority of the first crewed missions into space, especially when it comes to private passengers and crew.
Even more recently and notably, SpaceX launched private citizens into space, being the first crewed mission without any actual astronauts. This recent spaceflight took Jared Isaacman of Shift4 Payments and three others that he selected to ride with him. This crew was sent into space using the Dragon model Resilience, and is meant to spend three days orbiting the Earth, and up to a week if necessary. The Falcon 9 booster that sent the Resilience up to space has already returned to earth and can be prepped for reuse. Millions of dollars were poured into this momentous moment in space travel and history. The entire event was a charity event for St. Jude’s with the desire to raise 250 million dollars. This flight marks the beginning of a growing market for commercial space flights, as well as the future of innovation in the industry. The capacity of privatized business to compete in the space race is only growing as more funding and capital is poured into the production and research of future space travel and exploration.
Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos also founded a similar company, with similar progress in the production of reusable rockets. Blue Origin intends to fly astronauts to space using reusable liquid rocket engines, in order to create a near perfect orbital launch vehicle that will allow consistent and safe passenger travel to the moon. Operational reusability is a massive part of both Blue Origin’s and SpaceX’s mission, as the cost of recreating rockets for every individual mission would be massive, and drive up the already astronomical costs of space travel even further. By working on reusable and efficient launch rockets and vehicles, the price of space flight can be decreased significantly, . Because of their reliability and consistency to be used with minimal repairs and work, prices for flights have decreased significantly. Should complete reusability ever be developed, space travel will become much cheaper and more affordable for more individuals interested in pioneering this new frontier.
Debates on Privatized Space
Space provides a new frontier for all sorts of industries and people, as technology only affordable by nations is slowly becoming available to the general public. Now, people can invest and partner with larger organizations like Blue Origin, creating a private domain of space technology development. Having more private enterprises and companies benefits the entire field, as they provide competition and thus cause growth in an industry that has essentially stagnated since the moon landing. With the new faces of the space race also came the development of technology, as computing technology evolves, beneficially affecting every other technological industry. Additionally, rare resources on Earth exist in space in vast and incredible quantities. Desirable metals like cobalt, platinum, silicon, and other materials can be collected by the ton should adequate technology be developed. Having these materials could cause a massive effect on related industries, as prices drop because of the massive supply of previously rare materials being brought into Earth. Resources present in space could potentially improve the quality of life on Earth, as companies like Blue Origin believe that humankind needs to expand and explore in order to find new energy and resources that can power and boost humanity to space. Lastly, the sheer price difference between government and private programs is astounding. To compare the prices of public versus private, Peter Diamandis and Lina Shi from Wharton University agree that government space projects can cost up to 2 billion dollars depending on the number of people, while private enterprises are cutting that down to around 60 million dollars a person or lower. While the costs of the programs are drastically different, a major portion of this price different can be attributed to the intense research and development needed for reusability in space travel, which only further goes to show the potential for private space companies to bring humanity to the stars.
However promising space may seem, systems will need to be created for the safety and regulation of space travel, especially since the government is taking a back seat on the race to the frontier of space. In the past, government bureaucracy has taken decades to build functional and acceptable systems for insurance, safety, rules, and etc., but to construct a new set of rules in a foreign, extremely precise and dangerous environment like space would take exponentially more time. Additionally, private businesses have to juggle more responsibilities, such as the need to reap a profit and keep afloat. Lina Shi reflects on this, saying “Since profitability is a major factor in a lot of decision making, programs that focus on the general development of space exploration and knowledge, but lack immediate commercial applications, may not be developed.” As a result, technology that may lead to more fruitful results in a distant future may be avoided for the sake of getting quicker riches. In addition, entering the private space travel industry is incredibly risky and can cause significant losses for all parties involved. For example, Taylor Dinerman mentions a previous collaboration between NASA and Lockheed Martin, an older private space company, saying “Before it was canceled in 2001 this program cost the government $912 million and Lockheed Martin $357 million.” Significant costs and risks can cause minimal private industries entering this niche. Coupling this massive risk with the concept of having to safety certify flight models under a very rigid and precise system would cause many companies that even dreamt of developing space technology to give up, and only increases chances of failure for existing companies.
These two differing sides of the privatized space endeavor may lead to a different future depending on the choices businesses and governments make. Because of these differences between public and private enterprises, both will end up changing the space race in a significant manner as space accessibility for the average person becomes a dream that in reality is not too far off. All in all, it seems that a future with privatized space is highly beneficial and even attainable, though decades of work are needed to make this dream a reality. These critical years of developing the mentality of endeavoring to reach almost impossible dreams are refreshing industries that have stagnated, resurging them with a new light. Balancing the benefits of resources and space, as well as the rules of safety and the concept of long term benefits would be the key to harmoniously creating a beneficial competition to reaching far beyond the moon. Privatized space, regardless of how fast it progresses, will need the help of a nation through benevolent assistance in law and order to advance. And with this advancement, will come the dreams of a prospering space-faring species, in the form of reality.
