Author: Aidan (Page 1 of 4)

Born in a time of discovery, the skies seemed endless.

A bright future of collaboration and expansion was nearing, with earthly quarrels far overshadowed by the beauty of our blue marble from afar.

Things seemed great, NASA and others pioneered science far beyond what we thought was possible.

But, at some point, it slowed.

Politicians lobbied for budget cuts and restrictions, because they couldn’t possibly understand why we needed to spend so much on, in their eyes, a frivolous pursuit.

We lost our focus on the skies and turned back inwards, focusing on our problems back here, on Earth.

But it wasn’t over, Humans will always want to explore.

It didn’t take long for individuals, not corporations, to give it a try.

So slowly, they worked on their own concepts, from the ground up.

Forming something from nothing, learning and building of the shoulders of the giants before them.

Until today, where we stand in-between two distinct periods in our history.

One of government funding and bureaucratic decision making.

Another, One free of any restrictions, driven by innovation and imagination.

Yet, there’s a looming issue with this new approach.

Its intentions are not the same.

Unlike the age of exploration, with scientific interests to further our knowledge.

The age of commercialization aims to do one thing, make the rich richer, bring money back to those who started it.

Unfathomable wealth already accumulated by a select few, the few who can afford such endeavors.

This will only further that divide.

Thesis: Space Privatization is an emerging industry with massive consequences for our future, both positive and negative.

Have you ever wanted to go to space? Maybe you’ve seen the Apollo missions, or maybe you’ve seen astronauts floating around in the Space Station and wondered if you would ever have that opportunity. Well in the first time in human history, that prospect of ordinary citizens reaching space is becoming a reality. With the emergence of private space companies, tickets are going to become available for a ride to space for the everyday citizen, no formal training required. Unfortunately, there’s a catch.

When the Apollo missions first reached the moon all the way back in 1969, the world was watching with wonder and awe. For the first time, humans had stepped foot on another celestial body. Very quickly the world realized the potential that we have as a society, to expand outward, not limited by our home planet. Throughout the late 1900’s space exploration was in its prime, what some call its “golden age”, with various missions and rockets performing all kinds of missions in the progress of furthering our understanding of science and the universe. But as time went on, political turmoil and lessened interest severely impacted these endeavors. Gone where the days of multi-billion dollar rocket launches and satellites, as the public began to see these efforts and wasted tax dollars and unnecessary expenditures. The Golden Age of space exploration had come to an end.

Until, in the early 2000’s, and emerging company named SpaceX, owned by entrepreneur Elon Musk, successfully launched a rocket into orbit. This seems trivial right? Rockets have been launched into orbit for decades already, what was so special about this one? Well, unlike every rocket that came before it, this one had been funded entirely by private investors and private capital. No longer was space limited to bureaucratic funds and government owned facilities, instead it was open to anyone with enough money and drive to pursue it themselves. Finally the public interest slowly came back, as these rockets were free from any restrictions that come along with government owned rockets. Anyone with enough money could purchase a ticket to ride on them. The exploration of space seemed to be back in the publics eye.

Over time, as the rockets got more advanced and proved themselves reliable and cheaper than government ones, administrations such as NASA began to take a serious look at the feasibility of them for their own interests. It began small, with NASA opting to launch a few satellites on SpaceX’s rocket instead of their own. Although not a monumental event, this showed a shift the current space industry. The biggest advantage that SpaceX has over NASA is that their rockets are reusable, with them coming back to earth and landing themselves after completing the mission. This dramatically reduces the cost of each launch. NASA began to rely on SpaceX more and more as time went on, opting to launch satellites and other probes through their rockets. Until it culminated in possibly the most dramatic change in the industry so far. In early 2020, NASA launched two astronauts to the International Space Station on a SpaceX rocket, the first time Humans were launched into space on an entirely private funded rocket. This was monumental, as now NASA proved they would choose private companies to launch their own astronauts over in-house rockets.

The future is bright, with more missions planned for NASA, as well as SpaceX planning their own missions entirely independently. With other companies such as Blue Origin planning space hotels for tourists to stay in space for extended period of times.