Ruminations

We are in an exciting time in the maturation of the Space Economy. There is a huge shift going on where Space is no longer the exclusive domain of Governments. We’re in a multi-wave maturation process where private enterprise is becoming the largest driver of the evolution of the Space Economy. As promising as the development has been this last decade, there are many steps we need to take along with a lot of tech to develop in order to truly be a multi-planet species. In this post, I will lay out the three major phases (a Space Master Plan if you will) we will need to accomplish to make this a reality.

Since we are already established here, Phase One of the Space Master Plan starts with Earth itself. We already have an explosion of satellites populating the many different orbits around Earth. This is a great albeit tiny step. We are in the process of changing the narrative from “Space is Hard” to where getting to Space safely & easily is the norm. Our next major step is to create the infrastructure in orbit around Earth to support our ability to not only travel greater distances but to take the first step in transitioning from an “Export economy” where we export resources from Earth to Space to an “Import economy” where we are bringing resources from elsewhere in the Solar System here to Earth for use.

The major infrastructure we need to introduce into orbit around Earth for this to happen is already in the development phase but they are:

1. Autonomous Manufacturing
2. Fuel Production & depots
3. Power Generation & Transmission 
4. Sustain Human life (gravity & shielding on stations)
5. More efficient means to reach orbit (rockets are not the answer, they’re a stepping stone)

I will not go into these in-depth because you can simply Google companies who are working on them, Litepulse included.

With these industries deployed we then can start turning our sights to the Moon & farther out.

Phase Two is where we take a major step forward in the process of becoming an “Import Economy.” With the infrastructure deployed to sustain life and build the things we need to expand, we can set our sights on making the Moon the launching pad for the stars.

The Moon is perfect as a staging point for future exploration because of two things. It’s closer and or cheaper than alternative major staging points. (Extreme large-scale orbital facilities which are more expensive to build and deploy or Mars which is both more costly and farther away). There is a debate going on about what focus is the most important, building large-scale orbital platforms here around Earth, getting to the Moon and establishing bases, or getting to Mars and establishing a colony. These either-or choices are self-constraining. The correct answer is not either-or to any of them, but rather they are all important and should be done for various reasons. It is the timeline for creating them is the biggest question.

The Moon provides most of the necessities (partial gravity, a ready-made platform, and shielding from radiation) we need to both survive and create a large-scale staging location for deep excursions into the Solar System. It is the logical choice for phase two, the major step towards creating the large-scale infrastructure needed for the “Import Economy.” As we start to bring resources back to Earth, the Moon will serve as both a major resource depot and a launch point for exploration and resource gathering.

This brings us to Phase Three Mars! Colonizing it will be a major step forward toward reducing the probability of humanity being wiped out due to a planet-killing event. Which is the main point of becoming multi-planetary species. Due to the distance from Earth, the costs to become self-sustaining, and not reliant on Earth/Moon imports are going to be astronomically high. However, the benefit far outweighs the cost.

As a sidetone - those who are first to attempt to get to Mars (if successful), have a huge benefit that is rarely talked about. Namely, the lack of competition. Orbits around Earth will have the most competition between entities, with the Moon being next and Mars being a far third. The entity that first establishes a foothold on the Red Planet essentially has carte blanche for both the resources there AND a blank slate to build a society in the image that it wants for better or worse…

The good news is that is a massive place to build which means there will be plenty of opportunities for all, eventually.

Now there are a lot more nuisances that go into executing the above plan, however, I tried to keep it simple as possible for sake of discussion. To sum it all up for the best use of resources = Earth Orbits > Moon > Mars.

The future is bright!

Per ardua ad astra