Space
Exploration: The Role of Private Space Companies
Saagar
Patel
Oklahoma
State University
The year 2012 marked the year of one
of the greatest international collaborations of all time, the completion of the
International Space Station. The International Space Station is a low- earth
orbit satellite habitable for humans. It was created as a joint project between
five different space agencies from five different countries. USA’s NASA, the
Russian Federal Space Agency, the European Space Agency, the Japan Aerospace
Exploration Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency, all, invested and
participated to begin this project in an effort to conduct experiments in a
microgravity environment. Nonetheless, the International Space Station has
acted as a home for astronauts for 15 different nations. The creation of the
International Space Station is truly a remarkable feat and can be compared to
the U.S. manned moon landings as the greatest American scientific
accomplishments. America will always take pride in being the nation with the
first man to step foot on the moon and one of the major contributors to the
creation of the International Space Station.
These accomplishments are well known across the world and have made the
U.S.A. in the eyes of many as the world leader in space technology, innovation,
and exploration. For the next great accomplishment in space travel to happen,
dedication to space exploration must exist in a national sense. The space
exploration program is definitely vital to this country and people across the
U.S. feel its effects. Many of the new energy resources attempting to be
discovered involve the exploration of space. A large amount of weather
prediction has come from space technology. Also, space exploration truly just
broadens the minds of people as it a subject that has a vast amount of
information and the current knowledge regarding space barely scratches the
surface. This is why space exploration is important to Americans across the
country.
The current era for the space
exploration industry is one where the commercialization of space is occurring
in a rapid fashion. There are numerous amounts of private space companies
currently in existence, today, and they all have high ambitions and
expectations. Space travel tends to be on the costly side when compared to many
other industries, so it is just expected that these private space companies
receive the majority funding from wealthy investors. These wealthy businessmen
have a passion for aeronautics and space, and therefore are truly making an
effort to advance space innovation. This is nothing new. This same sort of act
has been happening for over one hundred years. One particular example involves the wealthy Guggenheim family of the
early 1800s. According to Michael Burgan of the Las Cruces Sun News, the Guggenheim family was perhaps the biggest
private contributor to the space industry of the past. Guggenheim’s passion for
space and money, of course, was the primary resource for Robert Goddard’s
development of the rocket. Goddard’s experiments and trials in efforts to
develop the first true rocket were all funded and backed by the Guggenheim
family. It can truly be said that the Guggenheim family were one of the main
reasons for the Rocket Age. Today, just a couple of the well-known investors in
private space exploration include Richard Branson of Virgin Galactic and Elon
Musk of SpaceX. Perhaps, these men are following in the footsteps of the
Guggenheim family or perhaps in the footsteps of “philanthropists from Andrew
Carnegie to John D. Rockefeller [who] helped fund… elaborate technology for
scanning the cosmos” (Burgan, 2012).
Space travel and exploration is
at a point, today, where it is either going to slow down or thrive greatly. The
commercialization of spaceflight is currently going on today in hopes of doing
some of the work NASA is not currently capable of doing. Since NASA relies so
heavily on the U.S. budget proposed each year, long-term projects and
investments are difficult. Private space companies, on the other hand, are
funded by extremely wealthy people who truly have a passion for space travel
and exploration. NASA will obviously
continue to excel and make progress in the space industry, but may see a different
role now with the rise of the private space industry. The private space
industries can do many of the services for NASA for a lot cheaper, and
therefore NASA can focus on more large-scale, futuristic projects. Today, to
maximize space exploration efforts, the private space sector and the government
space sector should collaborate. In the overall space exploration industry, he
private space industry should have a more proactive role, while NASA can play a
more conservative role acting as an oversight committee for these private space
companies.
Many
private space companies have already made great strides in space exploration.
The most well known private space company, and perhaps the one with the most
current success, is Elon Musk’s SpaceX. According to the author of “The New
Space Race,” an article found in Science
Illustrated, “The new
era, which has been dubbed Space 2.0, was launched in earnest in May, when
SpaceX, a privately owned U.S. space company, saw its Dragon space capsule
successfully dock with the International Space Station (ISS) to offload some
1,100 pounds of supplies and scientific equipment” (The New Space Race, 2013). Since
then, SpaceX went one step further by successfully completing the mission of delivering cargo from
Earth to the International Space Station and also returning cargo from the
International Space Station back to Earth, making SpaceX’s Dragon the only
capsule currently capable of accomplishing such as task. The next task SpaceX
is embarking on is the task of completing manned missions. Richard Branson’s
Virgin Galactic is attempting to make space travel a tourist activity with
their spacecraft SpaceshipTwo. The mission of their company, according to CEO
George Whitesides, "’We
want to enable people all over the world to experience what only about 500
people have seen: Earth from space and the surrounding universe’" (Haak,
2012). Even though the expected cost for citizens is supposed to be high, there
will be enough customers for experiencing such a thing is so unique and until
this happens, was limited to only a select few people. Like Virgin Galactic,
Bigelow Aerospace Company is also attempting to extend its services to the
general public for tourism as they are attempting to build residential
inflatable modules in space. Another company dealing with low- orbit missions
is XCOR. XCOR is a very small private space company in comparison to the
others, having only 30 employees. Brian
Doherty, author for the publication Reason,
learns from a visit with XCOR employee Michael Massée that “XCOR's main goal
now is building and flying the Lynx, a suborbital vehicle to take tourists,
experiments, and small satellite payloads out of this world” (Doherty, 2012). A
private space company that has a different sort of task in mind is Planetary
Resources, which is funded by Google co- founder Larry Page. Planetary
Resources is a company that is planning to search for useful resources and
minerals in space. The current mission of the company is to “use robotic
spacecraft to mine asteroids for vital resources that can be brought back to
Earth” (The New Space Race, 2013). The previous companies discussed are just a
few of the many successful, aspiring private space companies in existence. As
can be inferred, most of these companies have a mission in mind of what they
would like their company to specialize in.
Private space
companies have the resources and funding to succeed compared to that of NASA.
There are numerous private space companies in existence in the U.S., today, and
the majority of these companies have experienced some sort of success. These
companies are able to do such great tasks in such little time due to the great
amount of funding and resources they receive. Almost every single one of these
companies is owned and controlled by a very wealthy investor such as Elon Musk
of SpaceX or Richard Branson of Virgin Galactic. Obviously, with the private
space industry being relatively young still, these investors did not start
these companies with the sole purpose of making a profit. Instead, these people
have a passion for space exploration and are investing much of their previous
earnings into ambitious projects in hopes of unveiling a new scientific
discovery.
NASA also is working to reach high goals,
but the organization will always be limited by the funding it receives. NASA is
receiving less and less federal budget money each year, with the 2013 fiscal
year being at a record low. Many can argue that funding NASA is not a priority
with the current state of the economy. This may be true; however, taking a
break from space exploration all together may, consequently, lead to the end of
space exploration. Moreover, NASA has to use a major portion of its funding for a lot more than just
space exploration. Private space companies can use the funding they receive
solely for space travel which is partly the reason these private space
companies are seeing such quick success. Nancy Trejos, author of the USA Today
article “A New
Space Race; Private Companies Dive into Space Transportation,” asserts that due to the
fluctuating budget NASA receives each year, advancements in space exploration
cannot solely rely on government alone (Trejos, 2012). This reason, alone,
should spark the rise of the private space industry. At the end of the day, private space companies receive the funding they
do and will see success because space exploration is something the investors
want to fund, and not something that have to fund.
If the private space industry takes on
much of the needs of space travel and exploration, advancements in space
innovation will be seen due to the business competition between the private
space companies. Commercializing space exploration paves a way for the private
space companies to compete with each other just as any other business seen
today. This competition will truly increase production and innovation. When one
company accomplishes an amazing goal, such as SpaceX transporting cargo to and
from the International Space Station, another company will attempt to advance this
goal by taking it one step farther, such as carrying humans. Prior to the
emergence of the private space industry, NASA was the sole entity dealing with
space exploration in America and was no in competition with anyone else,
potentially leading to less drive. History speaks for itself. When space race
was going on, the U.S. and the Soviet Union were definitely competing with each
other, leading to one of the greatest American accomplishments of all time. Regarding
the rise of private space companies, the president of the space policy consulting firm PoliSpace James Muncy
asserts that “we're making space more American. We're making space more
democratic. We're making space more available, approachable and real to the
average American” (Trejos, 2012). With more than just the government dealing
with space transportation, an open market exists that characterizes the idea of
American business. 20 companies all competing to find a way to reach Mars will
see more progress than one entity, alone, attempting to do the same without any
competition.
Since private space companies are not funded
by taxpayers, they face less scrutiny and criticism. The public will always criticize NASA,
whether in a positive or negative manner. During the moon-landing era, NASA
received an enormous amount of praise but, today, with the current state of the
economy, many view NASA as a waste of money and resources. Of course, the
people do who have the right to have these opinions as they are the ones who
are paying the taxes and NASA ultimately runs on tax money. Due to this
constant spotlight NASA is under, many of the high risk, high reward projects
do not get accomplished for the risk is not work the criticism. Tax- paying
citizens, on the other hand, are not funding private space companies. Due to
this, people are not as critical of them and are excited when there are new
innovations in the space field. Also, this gives private space companies the
opportunity to take chances.
Private space companies will have to take
great risks to gain success. Since the public opinion is not as important, the
private space industry is willing to take greater risks than that of NASA. According to Nola Redd of SPACE.com, for
private space companies, “failure
comes in two types — the loss of scientific opportunities and the loss of human
life” (Redd, 2013). The loss of scientific opportunities can refer to losing
resources and money into unsuccessful projects, which is something that most of
these wealthy investors can afford to risk. The loss of human life is an issue
that nobody can afford, but to advance the scientific community, the risk must
be taken. As a government agency, NASA has to be as cautious and ready as
possible, sometimes leading to missions getting delayed or postponed. John Grunsfeld, NASA's associate
administrator for science and a former space shuttle astronaut, is quoted
saying that “’the private sector is free to take those risks,’…pointing out
that it doesn’t have to deal with government bureaucracy” (Redd, 2013). NASA
has to justify why each cent is spent on a certain project. The private sector
does not. However, private space companies should not rush into manned
spaceflight. Losing a life is a type of failure that will receive public
criticism and may even affect the existence of the private space industry. Many
employees will resign and many prospective employees will lose interest in the
company. Some will argue that private space companies should not deal with
manned spaceflight at all. One panelist at a California Institute of Technology
lecture regarding space commercialization argues that “NASA's record of two losses in 135 crashes
is hardly ideal” and this
occurred even with all the precautions taken due to being a government agency
(Figueroa, 2013). With the
tragedies faced in the recent past with the space shuttle, many are pessimistic
about the idea of a private space company doing the same task- believing that
the risk is even greater when not in the hands of the government. The same
panelist also asserts that the Space Shuttle Program and the Apollo Program
were very ambitious, but truly did not work to the extent expected and now the
space industry finds itself in another experiment with the private space
companies ambitions (Figueroa, 2013). This simply cannot be the attitude to
excel in such a field. Being conservative will keep the U.S. stationery in
terms of space innovation and probably surpassed by other nations. Private
space companies have the opportunity to do great things, so they must attempt
to do so. This is truly a high- risk, high-reward scenario. The rewards can
truly be game- changing so the risks must be taken. This could either lead to
an enormous breakthrough or a failure, of course. Nonetheless, the private
space industry can say they truly tried to advance the space industry, rather
than just playing it conservative.
In the current state of the U.S., the
private space sector and the government space sector must collaborate and work
together to truly make substantial advancements in space exploration. Currently,
there are already contracts between NASA and private space companies to do some
of the routine tasks involving space travel. Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) is a NASA program that will choose private space companies to
deliver cargo to the International Space Station. This was created as a result
of ending the Space Shuttle Program. The U.S. had to find an alternative way to
get to the International Space Station rather than overpaying other nations
such as Russia to use their transport vehicles. From this program, SpaceX and Orbital Sciences
Corporation have signed a contract with NASA to make routine deliveries to the
International Space Station. As of April 21, 2013, Orbital Sciences
successfully reached low- earth orbit, confirming both companies are capable of
performing their duties. Private space companies can do many of the routine
tasks for cheaper than NASA. After
the final space shuttle flight in 2011, NASA paid a private space company,
Virgin Galactic, $4.5 million to buy cargo space and seats on their suborbital
vehicle for three flights. This price is “less than 1 percent of the cost of a
single Shuttle launch” (McKelvey, 2012). Private space companies are not
opposed to this job for acting as [the International Space Station’s grocery
van is a valid business” (Star truck; private space flight, 2012). NASA does
not want to stop advancing in the space industry and therefore will find
private space companies to do such tasks. With private space companies able to
get the same task accomplished for such a discounted price, NASA has no choice
but to be a customer of these private space companies. According to Seth
McKelvey, writer for the publication Reason,
the role of NASA has changed from the “sole producer and consumer of space
transportation to merely one consumer of several” but will continue to act as
the gatekeeper (McKelvey, 2012). While NASA pays the smaller, private space
companies to do the routine work, NASA can focus and do research on large-
scale, futuristic projects. This relationship may contribute to the most
success for the space industry. It will contribute to a constant effort seen in
the space industry, rather than an occasional effort every time a large venture
is presented.
Since space exploration is seen as a
national effort, it is important that America stays at the forefront in space
innovation. . Even though the
commercialization of space travel will decrease the overall tax paid for space
travel by the citizens, there are still many out there that are against the
idea of space travel being done through the private industry. Many people will argue that the total
commercialization of space will make space exploration less of a national
effort and the U.S. will not receive deserving recognition. These people will claim that doing such an
innovative feat such as exploring the moon, an asteroid, or even a new planet
should give recognition to the country rather than the title of a company.
However, given NASA’s fluctuating funding, space exploration just cannot solely
be in the hands of NASA. Yes, total commercialization of space may take away
recognition of the nation as a whole, but that is why there has to be a
collaborative effort between the two sectors. Accomplishments arising from a
collaboration of these two entities will truly be recognized as a national
effort before an effort credited to a company. According to Peter Diamandis of
the Wall Street Journal, a future where government only
controls space ventures will not be sufficient to truly reach the final
frontier (Diamandis, 2010).
Private space companies have the
opportunity to accomplish great things in space exploration in the near future.
It is evident that money will not be an issue for these private space companies
to embark on their goals as they are funded by some of the wealthiest
Americans. This reliability and backing in funding is an advantage over NASA
due to the unpredictable funding NASA receives each year. Also, since private
space companies are not being funded through tax dollars, they have the
opportunity to venture on very ambitious ventures without the consent of the
general public. This also plays an advantage to NASA. Private space companies
are free to take chances, to take on risk. Even if they “strike out,” they can
say they went to the plate swinging. Private space companies taking on the much
of the routine work, with NASA acting as an oversight committee will be the
model for America to continue its title as the leader in space exploration.
Instead of referring to each as separate entities, combine the two. There
should not be a distinction between the private space sector and the
governmental space sector; there should just be an American space sector. This will
truly lead to revolutionary discoveries that may prove to be game- changing.
This is why space exploration is so crucial. Who knows if there is an
accessible energy resource in space that can revolutionize the way Americans
live? Who knows if there are life-sustaining environments in space? These are
the questions that make space exploration so crucial and so interesting. There
is still so much to be unveiled. The universe is considered infinite, so there
will always be something new to be discovered. Everything that has already been
discovered in space, today, is already remarkable, but Americans should not be
already satisfied. The surface has barely been scratched. Who knows what waits
to be discovered?
References
Burgan,
M. (2012, July 22). Their view: Private space exploration a long and thriving
tradition. Las Cruces Sun-News. Retrieved March 13, 2013 from
www.lcsun-news.com
Diamandis, P. (2010, February 10). Space: The final frontier
of profit. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved March 12, 2013 from http://online.wsj.com
Doherty, B.
(2012). Space on earth. Reason, 43(9), Retrieved March 12, 2013 from www.reason.com
Figueroa,
J. (2013, January 11). Panel: Private space exploration could make it easier to
reach for the stars. Pasadena Star-News. Retrieved March 12, 2013 from
www.pasadenastarnews.com
Haak, E. (2012). Space,
the private frontier. Fast Company, (162), 15-15. Retrieved March 12,
2013 from Proquest database
McKelvey, S.
(2012). (Still) getting off the ground. Reason, 43(9), 14-14. Retrieved
from Proquest database
Redd, N. (2013, January 22). Scientists
see big rewards (and risk) in private spaceflight. Retrieved from www.space.com
Star truck;
private space flight. (2012, May 05). The Economist, 403(8783), 14-14.
Retrieved from Proquest database
The new space
race. (2013, Science Illustrated, 6(1). Retrieved from Proquest database
Trejos,
N. (2012, August 14). A new space race; private companies dive into space
transportation. USA Today. Retrieved from www.usatoday.com
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