[FPSPACE] Launching anything is good: How Governments Could Promote Development of Outer Space

[David Portree]

The assumption that the market will *ever* be very big is naive. Could it be that government hasn't developed economies of scale because the scale is small? It's a question many seem determined to sidestep. 

 

This could be a place where science fiction has not served us well. The science fiction tradition has been to impose a 19th-century seafaring trade model on the universe. It's fundamentally lazy and unimaginative, but it might be the only way to go about setting stories in space; a realistic depiction would likely not hold much appeal.

 

Space is not a friendly environment, and there isn't much there for us. It's a place to explore, to learn about, and that's just about it (at least for the foreseeable future). 

 

Myself, I have a major problem with taxpayer's dollars being spent to provide a "guaranteed market." That's not how our system works, or so we are told again and again. I can think of a few dozen industries I'd rather see government control - health care would be one.


David S. F. Portree

dsfportree at hotmail.com
dportree at usgs.gov
 
http://beyondapollo.blogspot.com/
 
http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/About/People/DavidPortree/
 



 


From: ljk4 at msn.com
To: fpspace at friends-partners.org
Date: Mon, 2 Nov 2009 00:59:16 -0500
Subject: [FPSPACE] Launching anything is good: How Governments Could Promote Development of Outer Space



Launching anything is good: How Governments Could Promote Development of Outer Space
 
Sun, 11/01/2009 - 17:38 - Paul Almond
 
Government organizations have failed to develop space technology to the point where economies of scale apply and space activity becomes self-supporting. Private businesses may have the problem that in the early stages, before space is economically developed, there will be a limited market for space travel. 
 
When space is developed there could be significant economic returns, but development of the technology to achieve that could be hindered by the limited market in the early stages. 
 
This article suggests that a government can help with this by providing a guaranteed market for space travel and development.
 
By Paul Almond
 
Full article here:
 
http://machineslikeus.com/news/launching-anything-good-how-governments-could-promote-development-outer-space
 
 
 
 		 	   		  
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