More Than Just Tourism in the Commercial Space Industry

As we know, the Commercial Space industry is growing. NASA has been launching supplies to the ISS via commercial operators. Companies are testing space tourism transports and entrepreneurs all over the world are trying their hand in finding a way to make money from a place very few people have ever gone.

The large growth we have seen recently is in part due to the commercialization of space becoming more manageable and attainable. New technologies and knowledge are being put to the test to get people into space and operating before other competitors can do the same. This privatization of commercial space can be a good thing. It removes costs from governments and their agencies. NASA has been a large promoter in the private sector of space. With the retirement of the STS, American Astronauts have been dependent on Russia for a ride to the space station. That trip for one astronaut is currently priced at $70 million (Martin, 2014).  NASA has also payed over $7 billion in contracts to Boeing and SpaceX who are currently developing new launch systems to get American astronauts into space within the next few years. In regards to the outsourcing of developing a launch system, it's a first for NASA. They certainly still have insight into the production, but their branding isn't going to be the one stamped on the side of the finished product. 

In addition to the large sum of money spent on contracts for a new launch system a very large amount of money has been spent on commercial space cargo transportation. As President Obama pledged in 2010, we (NASA) are now working with a large group of commercial space operators making space travel cheaper and more efficient. Currently NASA has more than a few contracts with cargo operators to transport goods to the ISS. A few of those operators are, but are not limited to, Orbital ATK of Dulles, Virginia; Sierra Nevada Corporation of Sparks, Nevada and SpaceX of Hawthorne, California (NASA Awards, 2016). Those companies have transported more than 35,000 lbs. of cargo to the space station.

The space industry has many more opportunities than just cargo and travel. Many companies and entrepreneurs are seeing asteroids as perfect mining sources. Some asteroids can hold valuable materials ranging in worth from $100 billion to others pushing $100 trillion (Thompson, 2016). The asteroid mining portion of the space industry would be worth trillions of dollars alone if and when it gets started. Gathering materials from asteroids is an endeavor much closer to us than one might imagine. Even though completely mining an asteroid for its resources may be a few decades down the road, we can still obtain materials and resources from them.  There is the possibility of using water found on asteroids to make fuel in space, instead of transporting it up from earth which will save much more fuel and money (Wall, 2015).

With the space industry growing all over the world, every country will have to work together to keep not only a peaceful relationship, but a friendly one. This is a lesser known subject, but a large one indeed. When and while the commercial space industry is growing larger than it is now, what policies will we adopt to keep the industry fair and safe? Will a free enterprise system work? Many of the policies here on Earth will now work in space. Many companies in any industry will cut back on certain costs because they are not seen as important costs when in reality, those cutbacks hurt employees in one way or another. That will simply not work in space (Livingston, 1999). Space should be the New Frontier. In that sense we should also explore it in a new way. Creating the safest possible environment and all working together to move mankind forward would be a good thing to remember.  

References

Livingston, D. M. (1999, August 14). The Ethical Commercialization of Outer Space. In Space Future. Retrieved from http://www.spacefuture.com/archive/the_ethical_commercialization_of_outer_space.shtml

Martin, K. (2014, December 2). The business of space: Exploring the new commercial space economy. In Aljazeera America. Retrieved from http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/real-money-with-alivelshi/articles/2014/12/2/the-business-of-spaceexploringthenewcommercialspaceeconomy.html

NASA Awards International Space Station Cargo Transport Contracts (2016, January 14). In NASA. Retrieved from http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-awards-international-space-station-cargo-transport-contracts

Thompson, C. (2016, January 14). Space Mining Could Set Off a Star War. In Wired. Retrieved from http://www.wired.com/2016/01/clive-thompson-11/

Wall, M. (2015, August 11). Asteroid Mining May Be a Reality by 2025. In Space.com. Retrieved from http://www.space.com/30213-asteroid-mining-planetary-resources-2025.html