Commercial Space Exploration - Research Paper Example

 Commercial Space Exploration Abstract Researchers see technology as the main driver in space exploration. As of the US, this may be termed as true due to the way in which the American society is driven by technological motives in so many aspects. While technology is important, technological advances cannot be achieved without technological drivers. This is in the same way space exploration cannot be achieved without space based drivers. The world wars opened up the opportunities in space exploration, earlier then; military aspirations of countries pushed the development of space exploration. However, currently, commercial utilization of space has outpaced this (Fergusson, 2010). The need to stake a part of the unexplored universe has driven countries into commercial competition through research and scientific advances. As such, this paper’s main contents are specifically about the commercial drivers of space exploration. Vast amount of research has been done in compiling this paper, with different sources such as accredited books, websites with relevant information and established news sources used to source for relevant concept and material. Key words: natural resources, asteroid mining, moon mining, space tourism. Commercial Space Exploration The year 1957 signaled the dawn of what is termed as the space age. At this time, the world’s powers were involved in a bitter battle to establish supremacy and control over other nation. The result was a race in almost all crucial sectors that involved world affairs. A German, Krafft Ehrike, came up with ideas which he contemplated would direct space exploration. He suggested 3 guidelines for space exploration. They were that, no one and nothing under the powers of nature would enforce restrictions on man other than man himself. Secondly, it was the right of every man to transverse the universe up to his limits. Thirdly, he stated that exploration of the universe was a fulfillment of man’s destiny as a constituent of life that had and has been gifted with the ability of reason and wisdom to discern right and wrong (Freeman, 2000). Currently, many doubts exist regarding the interests of many developed countries to pursue space exploration. Motivated by military, governmental, and commercial factors, it is truly a space race. In space exploration, many nations have hidden agendas behind their pursuit of space power. Knowledge has been pursued on many avenues in developed nations with space exploration capabilities. Hence, space exploration is one area that countries have used to characterize their society. It has also been used to promote global prestige. Scientifically space exploration has been used in scientific research to create new scientific equipment for the advancement of mankind. This paper looks at the drivers of that have established space exploration in the world. These drivers may include military, governmental, or commercial needs which a country seeks to meet and fulfill. Historical Perspective It is with no doubt that man shall and will soon travel everywhere in space and colonize various regions of the universe. The pace has already been set by NASA which has sent a robot to one of the Earth’s neighboring planets known as the Mars rover. This is in attempt to know what and how the environment of Mars is like. But what drives NASA’s space ambitions? The answer to this question can be answered depending on the dimension that one looks at NASA’s space program. Countries such as China and Russia also have their own space ambitions that will lead to colonization of the cosmos. Many of these countries are driven by the aspiration to establish settlements in other planets, an aspiration that is yet to be achieved. The time it shall be achieved along with the speed of its achievement is still uncertain. However, as with many discoveries, it needs only one development to achieve this aspiration in a speedy manner. Is this a commercially viable aspiration? For many countries it is. What is projected at is the commercial potential viable from these space aspirations. Depending on each country’s economic muscle, there is a mix of small and large space exploration projects driven by commercial drivers. During the cold war, America and Russia competed vigorously to stamp their authority in space. This led to the development of space exploration programs that began with sending animals to space for testing purposes as there was much that was still unknown about space. The aim then was the moon. In 1969, America stamped its authority in space by being the first country to send men onto the surface of the moon using the Apollo program. This program was a signal to man that getting to the moon was very much in man’s ability. All that was required was the motivation and innovation to develop aerospace technologies to take man there. Why is the moon such an important factor in space exploration? The commercial potential associated with the moon is vast and large (National Defense University Press, 2011). Moon Mining Countries such as China have made tremendous steps in their space exploration program. Though China lags behind when compared to the US, its push for recognition in the space exploration arena is not merely a trial but a serious ambition. China has specific commercial drivers that drive its space exploration program. For one, it wants to prove to the world that it is a reliable country of choice in terms of launching satellites and humans into space. Why is this so? Many countries have space ambitions but they lack the ability to launch satellites into space. Therefore, this is a commercial opportunity to make money. Recently, China launched satellites for Pakistan and Nigeria (Hoversten, 2013). It also launched a remote sensing satellite for Venezuela. Obviously, these launching programs are not done free of charge. Countries must pay for these services which is a commercial drive. China has also targeted Earth’s natural satellite, the moon. It recently sent a robot to the moon named the Jade Rabbit robot. This space exploration program was driven by the commercial viability that the moon offers. The rover’s first mission was to survey the geological surface and structure of the moon in search of mineral resources for a period of 90 days. Within that period, it is also to undertake scientific studies of the landing site. Geological survey of the moon’s surface is aimed at exploring for natural resources that can be mined from the moon. What China aspires to do is to commercialize this mission by providing training programs for astronauts from countries without space capabilities (Hoversten, 2013). It aims to convert the prestige that the space exploration program comes with into a commercial business to exert its geostrategic power. The rover mission is also made up to evaluate the presence of 14 chemical elements and how they are spread out across the moon’s surface. One important element is Helium – 3 which supposedly is found deep in moon’s rocks. The commercial viability of this element is that it is thought the moon has around 1 – 5 million tons of this element compared to earth’s limited quantity of Helium – 3 (Rincon, 2013). What is unique about the mineral Helium – 3? This mineral is regarded as a constant, long – term, inexpensive and clean energy source for mankind. It can be used specifically as a nuclear energy source by convenient nuclear fusion techniques. This mineral results in commercial viability because, when used for energy purposes, then electricity can be generated and sold to other countries. For all these commercial drivers of space exploration, it means that countries have to develop better and advanced transport systems to transport the minerals back to Earth. Be it on NASA’s or China’s part. This provides another avenue to for commercial opportunities (Rincon, 2013). Natural Resources The scramble for natural resources on earth is one reason why colonization spearheaded by Britain occurred. Natural resources are an important component of the economic abilities of countries on earth. Studies have projected that with the continued mining and use of earth’s natural resources, they are not bound to last forever. At one time or another, they shall be used up. What happens when that time comes and a certain important natural resource has been depleted to the point that it cannot be utilized for commercial purposes? It may lead to war and disagreements over such natural resources. Due to these considerations, studies conducted about other planets, natural satellites and asteroid alike indicate that they are endowed with unlimited natural resources (National Defense University Press, 2011). It is this natural resources located in space that has driven space exploration. America, spearheaded by it space arm NASA, the European Space Agency representing Europe and many of America’s allies are all after the much coveted and unexploited minerals in space. What spurs this commercial drive is that no one can stake a claim on a space object. This means that all things outside Earth are within the grasp of any country which aspires to claim it. The race is open for all countries. The difference is the economic capability of countries in developing the means to get there. It must be remembered that space travel is not a simple thing; it requires a knowledgeable nation spurred on by cohesion, innovation, and aspirations that are deeply integrated into that country’s culture and society. Commercial space exploration has no room for corruption. It requires proper management of funds (National Defense University Press, 2011). Asteroid Mining One commercial project that has driven space exploration is asteroid mining. Through research on the composition of asteroids, it has been discovered that many asteroids found in space are composed of vital minerals such as iron that is needed on Earth for technological advancements and use in industrialization. This research has been done by NASA with the help of powerful telescopes developed by the space agency along with its partners. Asteroid mining is very much viable considering that America and NASA have laid out the plan to capture an asteroid in space. The asteroid belt located between Mars and Jupiter is a rich source of asteroids. This space project is termed as the Asteroid Redirect Mission (Diaz, 2014). What it plans to do is to capture an asteroid and place it into lunar orbit over the next 10 years. How will NASA do this? This will be achieved through a robotic system which shall capture the asteroid and place it into a space bag. Taking advantage of the moon’s gravitational pull, it shall then be pulled into lunar orbit. The asteroid shall be analyzed for mineral elements that are rare to obtain on Earth for mining purposes. What NASA is assured of is that the mining of asteroids is, much more efficient than mining on earth. The ecological risks are also minimal (Diaz, 2014). The commercial viability of this space exploration program is huge as asteroids can avail unrestrained natural resources that are rare to find on Earth or even that cannot be obtained from Earth. Space Tourism Another commercial driver for space exploration is space tourism. Tourism is one of the main economic drivers in. This is a strong commercial case point for space exploration. Space tourism goes hand in hand with transport. As a result, space vehicles have to be developed to enable this space exploration need. Hammond (1999) also takes note of the need for earth to orbit launch vehicles. Such vehicles are important aerospace system needs that enable space use and commercial space applications. The International Space Station which results from the collaboration between several nations offers a platform for space tourism. Private companies such as Virgin group are developing spaceships to transport passengers to space. This commercial driver into space exploration offers numerous commercial benefits with ticket prices set at 200,000 US dollars. This is a big driver for development of aerospace machines like the Virgin Galactic’s rocket powered SpaceShipTwo (Powers, 2014). The commercial spaceship has been developed by Virgin’s engineers driven by the drive for the largely underutilized space market. Conclusion From the basis of the description of drivers that have driven commercial exploration, specifically, commercial drivers have been looked at. As seen, countries that have space exploration capabilities are faced with numerous commercial opportunities which drive their space ambitions. Even countries not mentioned in this paper such as India and Iran have identified commercial opportunities that can only be met through meeting aerospace system requirements in their technologies. NASA, the world’s leading space exploration body is firmly at the forefront in commercialization of space exploration. China and Russia have not been left behind as evidenced by their space exploration trends. Individuals, mostly entrepreneurial billionaires have also not been left behind as they come up with companies such as Virgin Group pushed by commercial opportunities in space exploration. This indicates that space exploration is driven by certain factors which push the industry towards technological advancements and breakthroughs that would not have been achieved without them. No country with the ambition and right frameworks can be stopped from achieving its space goals. As stated in the introduction, it is the right of every man to explore space up to his limits. References Diaz, J. (2014, February 2). How NASA’s plan to capture an asteroid is crucial to human survival. Retrieved from http://sploid.gizmodo.com/how-nasas-plan-to-capture-an- asteroid-is-crucial-to-hu-1523615950 Fergusson, J. G. (2010). Military Space Power: A Guide to the Issues. ABC – CLIO. Freeman, M. (2000). Challenges of Human Space Eploration. Springer. Hammond, W. E. (1999). Space Transportation: A Systems Approach to Analysis and Design. AIAA. Hoversten, P. (2012, July 2). What’s driving China’s space program? Retrieved from http://www.airspacemag.com/need-to-know/whats-driving-chinas-space-program- 238979/?no-ist National Defense University Press. (2011). Toward a Theory of Spacepower: Selected Essays. Smashbooks. Powers, L. (2014, January 17). Virgin Galactic space tourists could be grounded by FAA. Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/virgin-galactic-space-tourists-could- be-grounded-by-faa-1.2501310 Rincon, P. (2013, December 14). China Lands Jade Robbit robot rover on Moon. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-25356603 Read More