One private party recently flew a spaceship. Another private entity is supposed to fly into space in 2005 a model of a hotel. Even NASA has already begun privatization procedures
Uriel Brizon, Haaretz, voila!
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It is possible that these days a turning point is really taking place in the race to conquer space. The turning point is not due to the development of new technology or a scientific breakthrough; This is a perceptual, social and economic change. Space flight is beginning to go through what appears in many respects to be a privatization process. Entrepreneurs and private companies began to penetrate the field, which was completely institutional until now. Changes that have begun to take place in recent weeks at the American Space Agency (NASA), following recommendations published about a month ago by a committee established by President George Bush, reinforce the belief that this is a change that may lead to a breakthrough.
The journey into space was from the beginning the domain of governments and powers, due to the enormous cost involved. Most of the activity in the field is carried out by the governments themselves or the huge space industries, mainly of the USA, Russia and Europe. These function mainly as subcontractors and implementers - without independent initiative or planning that does not derive directly from government needs. After the "Columbia" disaster, criticisms arose that had been bubbling under the surface for a long time. Various experts agreed that the space industry is fixed and full of political appointments. In the absence of creative thinking, it is argued, funds are wasted on grandiose and pointless projects. The space shuttle, according to the experts, is expensive
The "Falcon" missile. Developed by a venture of billionaire Elon Musk
Too much and is based on outdated and dangerous technologies and the International Space Station does not meet expectations and its cost does not justify the activity carried out on it. In the XNUMXs, the critics pointed out, man built vehicles that reached the moon and in the XNUMXs the limit of the ability is summed up in the launch into orbit around the earth. Man's capabilities in space travel have diminished, in some ways, compared to those of forty years ago.
Two weeks ago, the SpaceShipOne spacecraft made a flight into space, the first in history that was entirely the result of the activities of a private entity. In 1996, a private organization called the X PRIZE Foundation announced that it would award a prize of ten million dollars to a group that would succeed in building and launching a spacecraft above the threshold of space - that is, to a height of about one hundred kilometers. In the flight carried out, it should be noted, the spacecraft rose to the required height and returned immediately. There is a significant gap between the capabilities required for this type of flight and those required to lift a spacecraft or any payload into a fixed orbit around the Earth. Despite this, the very fact of reaching the limit of space by a private and limited enterprise is significant.
By using computerized design technologies and advanced production means, the people of Scaled Composites, the company that built the spacecraft, were able to reduce the costs of building and testing the spacecraft and certifying its suitability for flight in space. The success of SpaceShipOne to make the flight safely was a turning point on two levels: first, it showed private entrepreneurs that the flight to space can be carried out without government infrastructure and funding, and second, it provoked a rethinking among American government officials regarding the centralization of activity in the field of space. The establishment in the USA treated the projects in the framework of the competition with skepticism, and at the beginning of the journey, they encountered difficulties and procrastination with the granting of the license required to take off into space. At a certain point there was a change, permission was received to carry out the flights from Mojave Airport in Southern California and there was even a sweeping official agreement to define the field as a civilian test site and as the world's first private space airport.
At SpaceX, a private enterprise owned by billionaire Elon Musk, they are not satisfied with flying to the brink of space. The company is developing a series of missiles that, it claims, will be able to launch payloads and spacecraft into various orbits around the Earth. Musk, a 32-year-old native of South Africa, made his fortune in the Internet industry. In 2002, he founded SpaceX with the goal of building the first launch vehicle into space that was not built according to the definitions and requirements of the administration. Musk intends to compete with the established space giants, such as "Boeing", for contracts to launch satellites and cargo into space. He is convinced that he can do the job successfully, with high safety and at a cost that is tens of percent lower than that of his giant competitors. According to him, today there is no reason why the cost of flying into space should not drop significantly and the technology exists to open extensive private business activities in space. The two-stage Falcon rocket developed by the company, which stands at a height of about thirty meters, has recently successfully passed several critical tests and its first commercial launch is scheduled for November 2005.
Bigelow Aerospace, headquartered in Las Vegas, is already thinking about the next step: a hotel in space. One of the areas that many experts point to as having potential for revenue in the field of space flight is tourism. Surveys showed that many wealthy people would be willing to pay a considerable amount for the opportunity to experience flight and stay in space. The entrepreneur behind the company is Robert Bigelow, who owns a chain of hotels in the US. The Bigelow company intends to produce a living facility based on a NASA development known as TransHab, which was designed to enable the launch of a large and spacious living area for astronauts who stay in space for a long time. TransHab can be launched into space when it is folded and its volume is reduced. When it is placed in orbit around the country, it is inflated and it opens up into a three-level living unit. It is still unclear to what extent the Bigelow company will be able to realize the plan, but the payment for the launch of the first residential unit has already been made and it is supposed to be launched already in 2005 aboard SpaceX's Falcon, in the first launch of the rocket.
In January of this year, US President Bush laid out a new vision for the US space program. The vision was formulated following the Columbia disaster and a document of conclusions by an internal committee of the White House, which reexamined the space program and its goals. The president called for a focus on the goals of the space program, returning to the moon, preparing for a trip to Mars and exploring the solar system. In his statement, he ordered the establishment of a special committee, which will submit detailed recommendations on the implementation of the vision within 120 days. The recommendations, published on June 4, reflect for the first time institutional recognition of the benefits of privatizing space flight activities. It is likely that the members of the committee reviewed the various private enterprises that have begun to operate and concluded that privatization is a possible, desirable and necessary goal. The document expresses criticism of NASA, which has not done enough to renew itself and change since the "Apollo" project in the sixties. The committee calls for extensive changes in NASA and the highlight is the call to privatize large parts of its activities. In order to achieve the goals defined by the president, the committee claims, entrepreneurs and private companies must be encouraged to integrate into space flight activities and projects and invest resources in encouraging private activity by providing contracts, scholarships and grants and announcing competitions and prizes such as the X Prize.
Last week, a round of appointments began at NASA in preparation for the implementation of the committee's recommendations. If the intended changes do come to fruition, billions of dollars will be poured into the private enterprises in the field of space. Many others will be added to the first companies that started operating in the field and a new generation of scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs will enter the circle of innovation and activity. The transition from centralized government activity to private activity, a typical transition consistent with the spirit of American capitalism, was almost always a signal for the breakthrough of a technological field forward. Privatization and the encouragement of private initiative will most likely lead to a breakthrough this time as well and bring humanity a few more steps closer to space.
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