yego.me
💡 Stop wasting time. Read Youtube instead of watch. Download Chrome Extension

SpaceX and Commercial Space Exploration | StarTalk


2m read
·Nov 11, 2024

I think people conflate two different things here when they talk about the moving frontier of space exploration. If you're going to advance a space frontier, you have gone farther than anyone has gone before. To me, that's advancing a space frontier. Anything else could be an engineering frontier, and of course, there's overlap between the two.

So, uh, SpaceX launched, went into orbit, came back, and landed. That's great; we've never done that before. Now we ask who is going to advance the space frontier. The history of this exercise at high risk with little promise of economic return for doing it first tells me that governments do it, and they sign the tasks. The patents get made and discovered to accomplish these previous untapped goals. Once that's quantified, then you have private enterprise come in and make a buck off of it.

The first Europeans to the New World were not the Dutch East India Trading Company; it was Columbus, sent by Spain. Spain had other objectives. They have a baseline of time much longer than a quarterly report or an annual report. It's a country. Countries can make those kinds of investments, particularly if the long-term return on that investment is for the greater glory of the country itself.

I don't see SpaceX as being like the private company that's going to take us to Mars. They could do it on a SpaceX rocket; that's not a new thing. The relationship between NASA and all the rest—what would be new is if SpaceX said, "We're going to Mars, and we don't need any governmental help, and we're going to do this as a complete commercial exercise." I just don't see that happening.

Imagine the conversation: I'm CEO of a company, and I want to be the first to put a colony on Venus. But I'm a private company, so I bring in investors, and they ask me questions. They say, "How much does it cost?" I don't know, but more than has ever been spent in space before. "Okay, is it dangerous?" Yes, people will probably die. But what's the return on the investment? I don't know; probably nothing for a long time.

That's a really quick meeting. The government can say, "We want to go to Venus because that's strategic value, possible long-term economic value." That venture capitalist investors don't have the patience to wait out. So, I'm just trying to be practical here in the way civilizations have behaved ever since there's been civilization.

More Articles

View All
2018 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting (Full Version)
[Applause] Hmm, good morning. [Applause] I’m Warren, he’s Charlie. Charlie does most things better than I do, but, well, this one’s a little tough. Charlie, maybe you can chew on that a while. Okay, at the formal meeting that will begin at 3:45, we will…
Warrior Watch: Protecting Kenya's Lions | Explorers in the Field
[Music] [Music] My father was Saawariya and they used to kill many, many, many Lancia. He used to tell me how dangerous Lancer. I used to hate Lance. [Music] When I was a young boy, I thought I would be growing up and killing Lance, but now we protect the…
Reading within and across genres | Reading | Khan Academy
Hello readers! Let’s talk about the idea of genre in fiction. Genres are types of stories that share similar themes, styles, or subject matter. So, science fiction is a genre, fairy tales are a genre, mysteries are a genre. Each one of these types of stor…
How to Find the Right Mentor | Ask Mr. Wonderful Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary
So my question is: how can a 22-year-old make himself useful or stand out to a business person that can perhaps take a risk to pull me along and teach me what are the skills and things you would need to see in a candidate to even consider teaching him? He…
15 Ways To OPTIMIZE Your LIFE
15 Ways to Optimize Your Life Life is whatever we make of it. Optimizing your life means making the best or most effective use of your life. It means making the most of your resources and opportunities while striving to reach your full potential. Making …
The Dark Side of OnlyFans
With the cost of living soaring, an economic crisis, and wages that can’t be stretched far enough to provide an enjoyable life, people are worried about their finances now more than ever. The sad truth is that skimping and saving can only take you so far.…