Before everyone gets all hyped up, a little bit of history on space startups. Iridium Communications ($6 billion satellite communications start-up that went ba

Before everyone gets all hyped up, a little bit of history on space startups. Iridium Communications ($6 billion satellite communications start-up that went bankrupt in the 90s) feels a lot like what planetary resources may become (pie-in-the-sky thinking, dodgy business model, poor foreseeable uptake for the next few decades): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iridium_Communications http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iridium_Communications http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/down-to-earth-reasons-for-iridium-failure-1113638.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/down-to-earth-rea... http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1898610_1898625_1898640,00.html http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1... http://fail92fail.wordpress.com/2008/10/01/story-of-iridium/ http://fail92fail.wordpress.com/2008/10/01/story-of-iridium/ http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/2000/03/35043 http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/2000/03/35043 Start-ups like these give me a Jurassic Park awe inspiring feeling (which I love) but I must say I'm doubtful because the Mars forcing function (i.e. colonists on Mars) does not exist and it's just cheaper to mine less rich ore down on Earth than to go into space. The more things change, the more they stay the same.