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What's Next in the New Private Space Industry?

Posted by Cliff on from the profit-among-the-stars dept.

Cesaro asks: "I'm as thrilled as every other geek out there with the success of SpaceShipOne. But what are realistic expectations of our next steps into this new industry? The Economist clearly thinks the next step is high paying 'space tourism' at a whopping $200k+ per trip. That is all well and good, but what do *we* think the goals and schedule should look like?" "How about travel? A flight to Australia will currently take me 20+ hours. How long down the road until I can take off from the US and land SpaceShipOne in Australia where another White Knight is waiting to ferry it back into the air again? (Anyone know how fast I could get there?) I only get 10 days of vacation a year and spending two of them in a metal cylinder is not such a good deal. How many years until we can start carrying cargo and DHL/UPS/FedEx can promise around the globe next day delivery? So I ask Slashdot: What should be the next steps and what is a realistic expectation of when those steps could occur?"

1 of 360 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Bad news guys by gad_zuki! · · Score: 1, Offtopic
    >Otherwise, STFU.

    Nice attitude.

    > What part of representative democracy escapes you?

    The cronyism, the payback to the religious right, the corruption.

    See Stem Cells for more info.
    the Clinton administration approved stem cell research in August of 2000. If Bush had done nothing, the research would have continued without restriction. Bush, however, prohibited federal funding for research on embryonic stem cell lines created after Aug. 9, 2001, and many scientists say the earlier lines are not useful for developing therapies to address diseases such as Parkinson's, juvenile diabetes and possibly Alzheimer's.
    Most polls show support for stem cell research. Democracy isn't immune from corruption and the favors system.

    See also: Bush Administration decides to give Microsoft a slap on the wrist.

    So what part of innovation and better products will be done overseas, thus hurting the US economy because of right-wing ideologues who only represent a small vocal and wealthy minority dont YOU understand?