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It'll happen when there's a business model that reduces the operating margin for a company. My best guess is this will be when the price for lithium or trans-u
by GCU-Empiricist 9y ago
It'll happen when there's a business model that reduces the operating margin for a company. My best guess is this will be when the price for lithium or trans-uranics goes up significantly, or some engineering process requires microgravity conditions.
- extrapickles 9y agoLithium will never be that expensive/rare. Its somewhat common, just we haven’t needed as much as we do now. Some rare earths are getting close to being worth it. That why a few companies are looking at nearby asteroids to see if they have enough of them.
- maccam94 9y agoMy point is that just getting projects started in space has a high barrier of entry due to the expense of moving personnel and structures into space. If we had permanent residents there, and the ability to manufacture the structures in space, it would become cost effective to build those specialized zero-G factories. It's unlikely that any single company will pony up the cost for that space habitat/construction facility, since it will be the most expensive structure to build.