Why The United States Should Commercialize Space Exploration
794 Words4 Pages
Over the last 40 to 50 years, outer space has been gaining the attention of the international community. During the 1950s, a new era in human exploration began. The only people to interact or explore space have been the wealthiest of countries around the world. However, with the growth of commercializing space it has become increasing easier to get to space and scientists are now working on making it easier and more cost efficient. This marks the start of an era where humans are not bound to Earth and space exploration will become a part of everyday lives.
The year 1957 marked the beginning of space exploration. This was the year that the Russian government launched Sputnik 1. One year later, in 1958, the American government launched Explorer 1 which was the United States first major breakthrough regarding the space program. After these two major events, the historic “Space Race”, began. For the decades that followed, government funded space projects were everywhere. If it wasn’t for the government funding, most of the major breakthroughs in space exploration would not have…show more content… These trips are short, usually a few hours, and take them into orbit so that they can feel weightless and get a full view of earth and then take them back down. I believe that as this industry begins to grow, the duration of time in orbit will increase and eventually customers will be able to visit commercial space stations set up just for patrons. One company, Orbital Technologies, has an orbiting hotel plan in the works but the price will only allow the world’s wealthiest to enjoy this luxury. Space commercialization is still in its early stages and can only target a small wealthier portion of the population. The cost of putting people in space is way too expensive to make it accessible to the middle class and it will most likely stay that way for quite a