Space Travel in the Private Sector

The space program is a topic that fuels great interest and controversy in the media on a regular basis, and has done so for decades. It represents one of mankind's greatest desires: to explore its surroundings and venture further and further beyond the bounds of our home on Earth and seek opportunity in the stars. As with all new pioneer fields before it, such as the dawn of the era of flight, it has faced numerous challenges and hurdles to overcome in the effort to expand and mature, such as budget and funding concerns, safety issues, and the backlash of public and governmental interest.

One prevalent issue in the space program is its diversification, the effort to bring the ability to leave Earth's atmosphere to the public. For decades, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), has held sole control over all traffic of aircraft out of the Earth's atmosphere. NASA is responsible for such monument us projects as the construction and maintenance of the Hubble Space Telescope, missions to the moon, the construction of the international space station, bringing hundreds of commercial satellites into space, sending probes to Mars and the farthest reaches of the solar system and beyond, and countless other space missions.

NASA's missions and services has proved an integral part to the expansion of business and communications. The satellites it launches provide services for all manner of such corporations, such as phone and internet companies, as well as other government agencies such as the military. Funded by the government, NASA has bolstered international relations as well, by working in cooperation with other nations in such projects as the international space station.

However, the space program has been dominated entirely by NASA for the duration of its existence. This complete monopoly of an enterprise by a government institution is incongruous with the nature of America's economy, which in almost all other areas is highly supportive of private franchises. In recent years great public interest was sparked in the idea of private enterprise in space. Several corporations have formed and are vying to be the first and most successful commercial space flight business. The Ansari X-Prize, modeled after the Orteg prize won by Charles Lindbergh in 1927 by flying solo across the Atlantic, is an award given to such companies that seem to exhibit the most progress and success toward forming a viable commercial space flight corporation, and seeks to stimulate the research and development in this field through monetary awards and by sparking public interest.

The idea of commercial space travel is, however, not a new one. This concept has existed as far back as the 1950s,when hopeful citizens and space enthusiasts speculated over the bright, not-so distant future in which there would be hotels on the Moon, and rocket cars like in the cartoon show, The Jetsons. There were even space travel agencies that sold eager would-be space tourists the first tickets to the hotels on the Moon. Sadly, no such hotels exist today, and the development of private commercial space travel never did become a viable idea until quite recently, when corporations began to form and work in earnest towards getting men into space in private spacecraft.

One such corporation is Scaled Composites, LLC.. Founded in 1982 by Burt Rutan, Scaled Composites is an aerospace and specialty composites development company located in Mojave, California. They constructed the private orbital spacecraft known as Spaceship One. It was is this spacecraft that Scaled Composites pilot Ryan Binnie made the famous October 4th, 2004 flight into the Earth's orbit, over 300,000 feet, and following it up with another one within a 14-day period thus winning the Ansari X-Prize of 10 million dollars. Ryan Binnie executed Both flights with minimal complications, only experiencing a series of harmless, zero-G rolls in the upper atmosphere in the first flight due to a slight maladjustment in the steering system.

These flights, and the fact that they were performed with such success and efficiency, signify a great milestone in the history of private space enterprise. This stunning success has proven to the world that private space flight is in fact feasible, and it opens many doors to the idea of space tourism and commercialism. It is possible that within 20 years time, commercial space flights will be made on a regular basis, both for pleasure and for travel, and this opens many possibilities in the matter of shipping. Thus, all business could potentially be greatly bolstered, much as it was with the construction of the interstate system in the 1950s. Tourism into space will likely flourish as well, as thousands of prospective tourists already exist in space buffs, science fiction fans, and those who simply would like to witness the beauty of the planet from a different perspective. The advent of commercial space flight will be a great advance in private enterprise, thus lifting the complete government monopoly on space flight.

Personally, I feel that the birth of private space flight will be an interesting and exciting phenomenon, and I will enjoy watching it unfold. I have always wanted to be able to traverse the stars, and while that will not be a possibility in my own lifetime, the fact that someday it will is fascinating. In the meantime, to leave the sheltering atmosphere of our mother planet, experience the weightlessness of space, and see both the myriad of stars and the blue-green gem of Earth from a whole new perspective would be a life-changing experience. It is one that I hope to someday have myself. Thus, I am entirely supportive of and awed by the efforts of private space flight advocates and pioneers, such as the Ansari X-Prize corporation, Scaled Composites, and all those that are constantly vying to put man among the stars.