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To me, this is nothing short of amazing. This is the first time we are seeing commercial entities working closely with national/international government run spa

To me, this is nothing short of amazing. This is the first time we are seeing commercial entities working closely with national/international government run space programs. This is a new era for space exploration because this is the first time private money will start rolling into space exploration programs. The problem with government funded programs is they are underfunded, limited in scope and often have no competition that would push them forward. One of the reasons why Apollo programs were so successful is because Americans and Russians were trying to out do each others and that created a healthy environment for amazing new tech to emerge. The problem today is that no country really cares about space exploration anymore... at least not to the extent they used to. When you allow free market forces and commercial competition to do their thing, you end up with all sorts of great things that otherwise never would've been. Can all of you imagine where we would be right now if everything computer related was ever researched and invented solely by governmental research programs? Probably somewhere in the 80s/90s, tech wise. If it weren't for Apple and Google trying to make as much money as possible in the phone market, we'd still likely be stuck with black and white phones with mechanical keypads. Same thing is about to happen with space programs. It's the capitalism, competition and free markets that allow for great inventions to emerge. Human greed CAN be a good thing.

chucknelson 14y ago
I sometimes wonder why space exploration interest ever waned. You would think as population increases and natural resource supplies tighten, that the world would be a bit more motivated. I'm convinced that interest is low because the problem is just too damn hard.
- tisme 14y ago
  Because once you've won a race there is no point in continuing to run. Access to space never was about access to space to begin with, it was a showdown on the world political stage.
  - btyrad 14y ago
    Exactly. And what is the end goal of space exploration? Colonize another planet? Do you know how impossible that seems -air, food, facilities?? Billions spent for what exactly...mining operations?
    - chucknelson 14y ago
      So what is the catalyst that sets off "real" space exploration? Near-exhaustion of Earth's resources?
codex 14y ago
The Space Shuttle was designed and built by a private contractor (North American Rockwell) after a competitive selection process among many private parties; even in the SpaceX case, the funding is provided by the government to private parties through the age-old bidding process. So I'm not sure what's so revolutionary here, especially given an almost zero potential for space profits absent government support. Mining the asteroids might be an opportunity the private sector could exploit in a few decades.
- tsotha 14y ago
  The big difference is SpaceX was able to keep the cost down because they put the money in up front and thus weren't forced by Congress to spread the work over 20 states. But that will change now that they have government contracts.
  - stcredzero 14y ago
    I don't think so. The "spread the work around" will be through the diversity of COTS projects, of which SpaceX is only one. But SpaceX has contracts, which could keep them profitable for long enough to pay off investors. Then they can drop the bottom out of the space transport market.
    - tsotha 14y ago
      >I don't think so. The "spread the work around" will be through the diversity of COTS projects, of which SpaceX is only one. Congress certainly isn't above putting these kinds of restrictions on COTS project funding. If they can't, then they'll just zero out the COTS funding and fund everything through traditional cost+ projects. The biggest hole in the the thinking of space enthusiasts is the gap between their perception of space projects and How Things Work politically. To me and you it's all about science and fancy engineering and, you know, going where no man has gone before. To Congress these projects are just a way to bring jobs to the district and get campaign contributions flowing. That's where their consideration ends. They don't even care if anything actually works as long as the jobs are there. That's why Constellation is still alive, and why NASA has ten different campuses. That's why it took twenty years longer than it should have to kill the space shuttle. Hell, that's why mission control is in Houston instead of Florida. SpaceX will not be immune from the laws of political gravity. The only way they're going to be able to stay relatively efficient is to stick with the commercial market. But Elon Musk seems fixated on Mars, so I doubt that's how things will play out.

chucknelson 14y ago

I sometimes wonder why space exploration interest ever waned. You would think as population increases and natural resource supplies tighten, that the world would be a bit more motivated. I'm convinced that interest is low because the problem is just too damn hard.

tisme 14y ago
Because once you've won a race there is no point in continuing to run. Access to space never was about access to space to begin with, it was a showdown on the world political stage.
- btyrad 14y ago
  Exactly. And what is the end goal of space exploration? Colonize another planet? Do you know how impossible that seems -air, food, facilities?? Billions spent for what exactly...mining operations?
  - chucknelson 14y ago
    So what is the catalyst that sets off "real" space exploration? Near-exhaustion of Earth's resources?

codex 14y ago

The Space Shuttle was designed and built by a private contractor (North American Rockwell) after a competitive selection process among many private parties; even in the SpaceX case, the funding is provided by the government to private parties through the age-old bidding process. So I'm not sure what's so revolutionary here, especially given an almost zero potential for space profits absent government support. Mining the asteroids might be an opportunity the private sector could exploit in a few decades.

tsotha 14y ago
The big difference is SpaceX was able to keep the cost down because they put the money in up front and thus weren't forced by Congress to spread the work over 20 states. But that will change now that they have government contracts.
- stcredzero 14y ago
  I don't think so. The "spread the work around" will be through the diversity of COTS projects, of which SpaceX is only one. But SpaceX has contracts, which could keep them profitable for long enough to pay off investors. Then they can drop the bottom out of the space transport market.
  - tsotha 14y ago
    >I don't think so. The "spread the work around" will be through the diversity of COTS projects, of which SpaceX is only one. Congress certainly isn't above putting these kinds of restrictions on COTS project funding. If they can't, then they'll just zero out the COTS funding and fund everything through traditional cost+ projects. The biggest hole in the the thinking of space enthusiasts is the gap between their perception of space projects and How Things Work politically. To me and you it's all about science and fancy engineering and, you know, going where no man has gone before. To Congress these projects are just a way to bring jobs to the district and get campaign contributions flowing. That's where their consideration ends. They don't even care if anything actually works as long as the jobs are there. That's why Constellation is still alive, and why NASA has ten different campuses. That's why it took twenty years longer than it should have to kill the space shuttle. Hell, that's why mission control is in Houston instead of Florida. SpaceX will not be immune from the laws of political gravity. The only way they're going to be able to stay relatively efficient is to stick with the commercial market. But Elon Musk seems fixated on Mars, so I doubt that's how things will play out.