Economic Development of Space: Examination and Simulation
- Paper number
IAC-05-E3.3.08
- Author
Mr. A.C. Charania, SpaceWorks Engineering, Inc. (SEI), United States
- Coauthor
Dr. John Bradford, SpaceWorks Engineering, Inc. (SEI), United States
- Coauthor
Dr. John Olds, SpaceWorks Engineering, Inc. (SEI), United States
- Year
2005
- Abstract
It is imperative for the government to monitor the commercial marketplace of ideas as well as to fund spin-off activities. Current examples include both the birth of space tourism and commercial-sector investment in inflatable habitats. These influences will have an equal, if not greater impact, upon the ultimate outcome of space exploration than any combination of NASA-specific funded technologies. Such future (and commercially-related) activities could dramatically lower the cost of developing and operating exploration assets. This paper seeks to provide an understanding of the capabilities of the commercial sector upon the objectives of the Vision for Space Exploration in both a qualitative and quantitative manner. This future type of economic development of space can be distributive within two broad categories: A.) Human and cargo presence in space and B.) Space resources. The first category includes earth-to-orbit (ETO) transportation for crew and cargo, commercial and civil, domestic and international. This category includes development of commercial infrastructure such as on-orbit recovery and space habitats. The second category involves the use of materials available in space including such concepts as In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU), Space Solar Power (SSP), asteroid mining, etc. A few cases studies of how the commercial sector can assist in the further development of human space activities are presented. The implications on government-funded human space activities are discussed. Governments can benefit but may have to compromise the type of exploration performed, when products and services are bought from the commercial marketplace rather than created for a specific mission.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-05-E3.3.08.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
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