The Daily Planet #17: Commercializing the Solar System

But it was Nasa funding, long-term procurement contracts and political support that made SpaceX possible. And it is clearly a mission-led company. As one of its supporters put it, while other space companies vie for contracts, “SpaceX is trying to get to Mars.”

I am sure Elon is serious about Mars, but I also wonder what the commercial exploration (really exploitation) of space is going to add to our politics on earth. International relations are already fraught with chaos - it's the aspect of politics that's most obviously of the “The strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must,” (attributed to Thucydides BTW) type, and space politics is even more likely to be so.

Today's Daily Planet is a link to a review of a new book on the commercialization of space, so a link to a link.

Keith Haring

"Space to Grow" explores the profound transformation of the space economy from a government-dominated arena to a dynamic mix of public and private actors. Historically, space exploration was a costly, state-led endeavor exemplified by the 1960s moonshot, which consumed a significant portion of public spending. However, this model has evolved dramatically. The failure of NASA’s space shuttle program to reduce costs paved the way for privatization and commercialization. A pivotal moment came in 2006 when NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program invested $400 million in SpaceX, a fledgling company on the brink of collapse. This support, combined with long-term contracts and political backing, enabled SpaceX to revolutionize space access by drastically cutting launch costs—from $90,000 per kilogram with the shuttle to $2,800 per kilogram by 2017. By 2023, SpaceX dominated the launch market, accounting for 80% of the mass sent to space.

This cost reduction has unlocked new commercial opportunities, such as satellite-based Earth observation services that monitor natural disasters and environmental changes. Yet, the increasing commercialization raises complex governance and ethical questions, including property rights in space and the need for new frameworks to manage lunar resources and asteroid mining. Ultimately, the book highlights how space, once a purely scientific frontier, is now a vibrant economic sector grappling with familiar political and ethical challenges.