Space/Science — HabitableZone

Space/Science » in reply to re: Tourism

Private vs. public
TB — (archived)

While some space ventures are obviously "private," and others obviously "government," as with most modern industries that have had a lot of government activity in the past, the line is not that easily drawn.

What follows is somewhat oversimplified:

Companies like SpaceX were started on private funds, but are also selling their products to or contracting with NASA. They sometimes pay to use government facilities, but they did not have to pay to build them. Certainly there is a lot of government research in the foundations of their technology. Companies like Rocketplane/Kistler are basing their vehicle on an engine design developed in Russia, at government expense.

One place where private companies do better in the long run is that they have an incentive to come out the other end with a mature product that they can make money with--i.e. something that will work reliably and cheaply. Government research outfits like NASA are paid to research things. A mature product means the end of the operation (NASA, properly, isn't allowed to make a profit on things), and there is an incentive to invent new things where new things aren't needed, and to stretch development into infinity.

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