The Commercialization of Space Flight
As Virgin Galactic unveiled the design for SpaceShipTwo last week, the reality of commercial space flight grew closer. While at first glance it looks like nothing more than joyrides for the rich, commercial space flight will bring about countless innovations in the space arena.
One benefit of the commercialization of space flight is that the general public will be interested in space again, increasing public support of NASA and other types of government funding. Commercial space projects can also benefit NASA directly. Since commercial projects are not funded by the government, they can push the envelope of technology without encountering bureaucratic red tape. For example, SpaceX, the company that won the 2006 NASA competition to design, build, and operate a commercial replacement for the space shuttle, currently has heavy-launch capability with its Falcon 9 Heavy rocket. Its projected launch cost is less than a tenth of the current shuttle launch cost.
The SpaceShipTwo project is clearly profitable, as Virgin Galactic has already received 200 firm reservations and $30 million in deposits. These profits can in turn be put back into the company’s R&D efforts to further improve their designs. In addition, the success of this project will entice other companies to get into the commercial space travel business, and innovation will bloom as companies push the state-of-the-art to compete in this new market.
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