Cost Efficiency : Private Vs. Government Space Industry

In the past 50 years, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has sent out many planned space exploration missions which have lead to numerous advantages in society and culture. NASA’s technologies benefit American lives with the innumerable important breakthroughs by creating new markets that have spurred the economy and changed countless lives in many ways. NASA is a federal agency and receives its fundings from the annual federal budget passed by the United States Congress. However, there are conflicting opinions that consider whether or not funding for NASA is a waste of government spending.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is one of the leading organizations in space technology and research. In the past 60 years, NASA has sent numerous satellites, telescopes and crew modules into space. Despite drawbacks in launch failures and lack of funding, NASA continues to focus on its mission in space exploration and technological advancement. One of NASA’s projects is to explore deep space, in which entails a manned missions to Mars, exploration of the asteroid belt, and beyond. With these goals in mind, NASA has engineered new rocketry and even created a program to better allocate costs of such conquests. With these new advancements, NASA has created a new age of how space travel is carried out.

Neil Armstrong 's 1969 lunar landing was one of humanity 's greatest accomplishments. Since then, we have found that an infinite supply of knowledge and resources await us just outside our atmosphere. Today, however, critics are beginning to argue more and more that the cost of space exploration is too high, and therefore new technological developments should be left to the private sector. Whether funded privately or by the government, funding of space exploration is imperative because NASA is essentially the only agency with the technological capabilities to support aircraft manufacturing, air safety and air transportation. Space exploration has also resulted in remarkable innovations that has played a key role in aeronautics research, preventative medicine, and allows scientists to study asteroids, along with other space debris and their impacts on Earth.

Through innovation in technology, the space exploration programs of the United States have achieved several benefits for today’s society. Many studies have shown that space programs have encouraged innovation of various

Look up at the night sky, see the stars, planets and our closest neighbor, the moon. Every human being at one point in his or her life has done this same thing. It is only natural to look up and wonder in awe at whats out there. Human beings are made with an innate desire to expand and explore. In the 1950s when there was no more of Earth to discover, people started looking upwards at the sky to satisfy this internal desire. Hungry for dominance and technological innovation, the United States created NASA and embarked on what would become the greatest voyage in human history. Throughout the second half of the twentieth century, space travel and the technology which powered it advanced far beyond what any prior civilization could imagine. Inspiring in humanity hope for a future not on Earth. An analysis of the effects of the NASA space program on the United States reveals a radical shift in educational policies, an influx of new an innovative technologies, and a renewed motivation and hope for the future.

On September 17th, 2007, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin delivered a lecture that addressed the critical role that space exploration plays in the global economy. During this lecture,

Many people especially those in the private sector are currently questioning NASA’s efficiency, ethics, and overall ability to achieve their mission. In their opinion, the private sector could do space programs far better than any government agency, and make it efficient and profitable. Proponents of NASA argue that the private sector cannot be trusted with humanity 's future and that no man has the right to own something in space. The unfortunate truth is that NASA and programs like it are too tied up in red tape and complications to get humanity to where it needs to be. With strong competition between companies and the incentive of profit the private sector is by far humanities best bet for space.

On the rockets side, SpaceX currently uses the medium-lift, two-stage, nine-engine rocket Falcon 9, the most experienced product of SpaceX with 19 launches so far. The standard cost of one Falcon 9 launch is 61.2 million dollars. It has 70 meters of height and more than 541.3 tons. On the Low Earth Orbit, it can carry 13150 kg of payload. On the Geostationary Transfer Orbit, it can carry 4850 kg worth of payload. Furthermore, In December 2015, SpaceX just made historic landing of a reusable rocket booster after launching it to the space carrying eleven Orbcomm communications satellites, Falcon 9 is highly likely become the world 's first truly reusable rockets.

On the rockets side, SpaceX currently uses the medium-lift, two-stage, nine-engine rocket Falcon 9, the most experienced product of SpaceX with 19 launches so far. The standard cost of one Falcon 9 launch is 61.2 million dollars. It has 70 meters of height and more than 541.3 tons. On the Low Earth Orbit, it can carry 13150 kg of payload. On the Geostationary Transfer Orbit, it can carry 4850 kg worth of payload. Furthermore, In December 2015, SpaceX just made historic landing of a reusable rocket booster after launching it to the space carrying eleven Orbcomm communications satellites, Falcon 9 is highly likely become the world 's first truly reusable rockets.

Not to say that NASA and the United States’ Space Program is not important. However, for all this new money, the program does not seem to be expanding the United States’ control or even its productivity in the field. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, a senator from Texas, mourns the new plan, saying, “America’s decades-long dominance of space will finally come to an end.” (Foust) To many Americans, this does appear to be the case. Under the NASA Authority Act of 2010, the United States’ would no longer even have access to the new International Space Station. Since the space shuttle took its final flight before being retired, American astronauts have been left without a “ride.” Instead, United States’ astronauts are going to have to hitch-hike their way to space aboard other countries’ shuttles (Moskowitz). This hardly declares the excellence or exceptionalism that most Americans are used to boasting about their proud nation.

Space exploration by the United States has been going on since the early nineteen hundreds. The impacts of space exploration can vary from being the first country ever to land on the moon, to having satellites orbit our planet. Despite the achievements space exploration has given to this country, there are many issues—with money, extraterrestrial threats, and the lack of a reason for funding—at hand that should be addressed to make decisions about the future of space exploration in the United States.

‘Space Industry’ is a broad term. It includes a huge variety of different sectors and industries. It is not easy to track down an accurate definition of its boundaries. Estimation of the global value of the industry present significant discrepancies. It can be agreed, however, that the Space industry generates important revenues: SIA estimates USD 322.7 billion of global revenues for the industry in 2014, while the Space Foundation estimates USD 330 billion.

Many people are unaware of how NASA’s space research influences them directly, and as a result, congressional support for increased funding to the space program is limited. We have forgotten the benefits that our endeavors in space research have yielded; from a stronger sense of nationalism that inspired generations to innovate, to “satellite development programs,” and even technologies like “digital imagery enhancement, which is now often used in medical applications” (Dick 143). While these may be unintentional byproducts of space research, their roles in our modern world are immensely useful. The discontinuation of the space shuttle program in July 2011 has played a role in reducing the prominence of space exploration and the benefits that could still be realized. Instead, the focus was firmly on cost, and on dollars that could be redirected toward other potentially more practical applications. And yet, few present-day expenditures can compare to the potential that another era of space research can generate with a little bit of added funding. A more robust

It is within man’s blood and nature to explore, and space is our next New World. Man’s first achievement in space travel was the launch of the Sputnik on October 4, 1957. For the next decades, space travel was roaring like a rocket, fueled by man’s desire to explore, man’s desire for knowledge, and man’s desire to beat his enemies. However, these impulses have died out as the well of government funding has been diverted to wars and debts, and the interest of the American people has been diverted to wars and debts. Amidst all these issues it is debated as to whether or not space travel is worth the money and the attention of scientists, particularly since humanity faces so many issues on earth currently. However, because of the past

In order to understand the cost of operating in space I am first going to explain government partnerships.