On July 20th of this year, something almost unbelievable happened. The richest man on Earth, Jeff Bezos, went to space and back on one of the first private commercial flights, along with an 18-year old Dutch student (Rincon, 2021). Ever since, I have asked myself the same question repeatedly: Is this really beneficial for all of us?
In the midst of the Cold War- September 12th, 1962 to be exact-, JFK gave a speech at the Rice University. In this speech, he spoke his famous words: “we choose to go to the moon”. Ever since, mankind has accomplished astonishing things. A total of twelve men have walked on the moon since (NASA, 2021).
Although of course interstellar features, what truly is incredible is the amount of public value that these space journeys have created. Ever since, mankind has sent satellites upwards that guide our communications systems, navigation, internet. We are now able to more accurately predict the weather, helping with damage prevention in storms (National Hurricane Center, 2021). NASA even claims that as of 2016, more than 2,000 spinoffs (NASA technology that has been incorporated in commercial products) have come to market in the markets of transportation, agriculture, computer technology and many more (NASA, 2021).
However, the entire landscape has shifted since then. The space race is no longer between the United States and the USSR, it is now between private organizations such as Virgin, SpaceX and Blue Origin. Sustainability has become a greater part of our daily lives, and these space journeys have shifted from research space exploration to commercial journeys.
One of the major pollutants on our planet is air travel. For one long flight- think Amsterdam to New York- a plane emits roughly one to three tons of carbon dioxide per passenger. To get to space, this increases one hundred times, to 80 to 100 tons of carbon dioxide. Furthermore, when carbon dioxide is injected that high in the atmosphere, it tends to stay there years longer (Gammon, 2021). Luckily for now, space flights comprise 0.1 percent of air travel, but that number will rise, if Bezos and Musk get their wish. The space tourism industry is expected to grow with 17.5 percent per year next decade according to Cision (2021).
Now my question to all of you. Do you think that the coming decades the space race will add value to our society in general, or do you think that it is a waste of money?
References:
Cision. (2021, 14 juli). Outlook on the Sub-Orbital Transportation and Space Tourism Global Market to 2031 – Featuring Blue Origin, SpaceX and Virgin Galactic Among Others. Https://Www.Prnewswire.Com/News-Releases/Outlook-on-the-Sub-Orbital-Transportation-and-Space-Tourism-Global-Market-to-2031—Featuring-Blue-Origin-Spacex-and-Virgin-Galactic-among-Others-301333701.Html. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/outlook-on-the-sub-orbital-transportation-and-space-tourism-global-market-to-2031—featuring-blue-origin-spacex-and-virgin-galactic-among-others-301333701.html
Gammon, K. (2021, 22 juli). How the billionaire space race could be one giant leap for pollution. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/jul/19/billionaires-space-tourism-environment-emissions
Hiltzik, M. (2021, 11 juli). Space race for Bezos, Branson, Musk is a mere vanity project. Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-07-06/jeff-bezos-richard-branson-elon-musk-space-race
Kennedy, J. F. (1962, 12 september). JFK RICE MOON SPEECH. https://er.jsc.nasa.gov/seh/ricetalk.htm. https://er.jsc.nasa.gov/seh/ricetalk.htm
Latest Satellite Imagery. (2021). https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/satellite.php. https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/satellite.php
The space race
9
October
2021
Hi Martijn,
nice post and good question.
I’m personally a huge fan of the efforts made by humanity to expand to new worlds.
However, I see the issues that this brings along. The huge amounts of resources needed could be used elsewhere on earth. To end hunger, and stop environmental pollution. Just to name two things.
Unfortunately, humans, much like viruses, tend to use up all resources of their host environment causing them to suffer and to die eventually in the worst case.
Now, billionaires take this to another level; in the space race between companies. And they want it as fast as possible, amplifying capitalism’s obsession with growth. Maybe they should try to do more for the earth as well, finding a balance between expanding to space and saving our planet. (I mean why is none of those super-rich individuals making a race out of it to be the first to save the planet, encouraging more and more rich individuals to join the challenge ?)
However, it is not just about exploring space, but about innovations and industries that could also improve living conditions here on earth. As the first colonies on e.g., mars need to live with few resources, circular value chains become very important. They could then be used as well on earth to improve living conditions here.
Maybe it would be good if this was some sort of underlying effort; to create value chains that enable people to live on Mars, but that can easily be modified to be used on earth.
I hope that the value that will be created for society is the moment that, once humanity colonizes mars, humanity will be united, indifferent of country borders and imagined separations.