exostrike
04-17-2012, 01:08 AM
It seems the age of pratical private space travel is about to come into being as SpaceX's Dragon freighter is planned to dock with the international space station (ISS) on the 30 april, more more info see here: BBC News - SpaceX's Dragon ship set for station visit (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17732480).
What will this mean for the future of space exploration? Not much I reckon, these private space companies are more interested in bidding for government contracts for ferrying supplies and people to the ISS or launching private satellites so you won't see any privately funded space probes unless its a gimmick. Private companies have no interest in exploring space, or even going outside earth high orbit.
This might actually be a good thing, with the common jobs of space flight (satellite launching) done by private companies, then countries will have more money to spend on actually space exploration, very important given that budgets are being squeezed.
What will this mean for the future of space exploration? Not much I reckon, these private space companies are more interested in bidding for government contracts for ferrying supplies and people to the ISS or launching private satellites so you won't see any privately funded space probes unless its a gimmick. Private companies have no interest in exploring space, or even going outside earth high orbit.
This might actually be a good thing, with the common jobs of space flight (satellite launching) done by private companies, then countries will have more money to spend on actually space exploration, very important given that budgets are being squeezed.