Essay Sanple on Space Exploration: Government vs. Privately Funded

The most attractive solution between the benefits of governmental and private spaceflight would be a combination between prominent, nonprofit government programs to conduct public research and push the boundaries of space exploration as well as private industries to exponentially lower the cost of space and come up with new solutions to exploit and utilize the vast, precious resources of space. As progress continues, the developments of both public and private space research should build off of each other to allow for easier and more ambitious projects in space. In this approach, NASA continues to develop long term extraplanetary and human missions that require extensive financial and human resources, as well as strict safety requirements, to inspire humanity and push the limits of what is considered possible. For example, “As a result of their work, the International Space Station (ISS) entered orbit in 2000. Scientists from around the world have used the ISS as a platform for countless important discoveries; importantly, the ISS also represented the sort of peaceful collaboration that eventually ended the Cold War” ("National Aeronautics"). This is a clear example of how the collaboration of governmental organizations and national interests can achieve a common goal. Building a multibillion dollar space station capable of housing and supporting astronauts for extended periods of time is not something that one organization or company would ever be capable of developing independently with existing technology. Only with international collaboration and the financial resources of dozens of national programs could such an unparalleled and groundbreaking achievement be accomplished. Another influential factor in determining the success of spaceflight as a whole, is private industries seeking new ways to cut costs and compete with fewer financial and human resources. As evidence of this, “SpaceX's competitive pricing has contributed to lower prices for NASA launches, with the cost for the ULA standard Atlas V rocket decreasing by around $20 million per launch after SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket became eligible to compete for launch contracts” (Hipkins). Developments and competition in the private sector can directly benefit national organizations such as NASA by drastically reducing the cost of sending payloads to orbit. As trends continue, despite some of the conflict between the fundamentally opposed objectives of the two sectors of the spaceflight industry, it is likely that corporations will begin relying on the semi-permanent infrastructure set up by governmental administrations for the exploitation and utilization of the physical resources and energy in space for profit. For an early example of this, look no further than SpaceX, which plans “to send forth as many as 42,000 of them [satellites] to provide high-speed connectivity to customers all over the world” (Hall). This ease of satellite tracking and management is only possible because of the work done by NASA permitting the use of such complex systems by developing the technology and systems to allow this to take place. The incredible work done by NASA has served as a catalyst for the growth of today’s newfound commercial space industry which has catapulted their success. It is critically important that, despite their apparent differences, both private and public space programs are given the opportunity to build off of the advancements and strengths of the other. This transition to an industry enabled by both private and national organizations could be implemented by increasing the number and value of government contracts to private companies and promoting the sharing of knowledge across the industry. Empowered by international collaboration, global governmental organizations are set up to realize the next great leaps for mankind while private companies such as SpaceX, Blue Origin, Dynetics, and others will continue to compete and build off of these advancements and contracts provided by national administrations and seek novel ways to improve existing technologies and find new solutions to reduce the cost of spaceflight.