In the 2020s, it can be safely said that the world is experiencing a second coming of the original Space Race. The difference between that of the 20th century and the modern Space Race is that the push towards space exploration was dominated by the world’s governments. Now, that mantle has been passed to some of the world’s richest people. The accumulation of vast wealth on the shoulders of a select few private citizens has created an influx of interest in space exploration, exploitation, and eventual colonization.
As Richard Branson, Elon Musk, and Jeff Bezos have begun their private enterprises in space, a serious of ethical questions have been generated as part of the general public’s conversation on the transition of power from whole governments to individuals. A general overview of these three billionaires and their companies includes the following.
Richard Bransons’s Virgin Galactic is a spaceflight business that had decades of rocky failures before finding eventual success in the last few years. Branson’s position as the head of Virgin Atlantic and the Virgin Group informed the formation of Virgin Galactic in 2004. Large stakes in the company are owned by Abu Dhabi and various investment groups. The New Mexican government has also contributed largely to their facilities. Branson and several passengers flew suborbitally in 2021 on Unity 22.
Fig 1. MIT Technology Review. Richard Branson.
Elon Musk is the founder of aerospace company SpaceX. Its first rocket, Falcon 1, was launched in 2006 and led to the company gaining recognition after winning a NASA contest proving the possibility of privatized space launches. SpaceX secured a contract valued at over a billion dollars within two years. The company had several more launches before finally sending a manned mission to the International Space Station on a Dragon capsule in 2020. SpaceX’s involvement in this industry remains focused on finding a balance between reusable spacecraft and finding affordability in spaceflight.
Fig. 2. National Geographic. Elon Musk.
Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and one of the world’s richest men, is the vision behind Blue Origin. Blue Origin is another aerospace company that aims to be a part of the commercial spaceflight industry. It was founded before Virgin Galactic in 2000 and wants to create reusable space equipment as well. In 2021, the mission Blue Origin NS-16 carried Bezos and his passengers across the Karman Line (a general line that indicates the end of Earth’s atmosphere and the beginning of “space”).
Fig. 3. Wired. Watch Jeff Bezos.
In regards to the ethicality of these operations, one must be aware of the fact that 11% of global wealth is now in the control of 0.01% of the human population. The pandemic has been a driving factor of an increase of monetary value being funneled into the control of various individuals. At a time when much of the planet remains occupied with the growing concerns of climate change, there must be a conversation on how appropriate the commercialization of space is in context of existing planetary threats.
The larger issues that come up in consideration of the modern Space Race include discussions on wealth, capitalism, a balance of power between governments and citizens, economic inequality, the expense of space exploration, and the morality behind further colonization and claiming of new territory. The billionaire Space Race can not be looked at without the lenses of all of these additional topics. As privatized space exploration takes off, it is important to form viewpoints based on reviews of relevant data and testimony. Further posts in this blog will explore these subjects deeper beyond this general introduction.