The Commercial Space Industry

The Commercial Space Industry

The idea of space tourism came about around the time of the Cold War. As the United States and Russia were racing to put a man on the moon, both countries were practicing by launching satellites into space. With a new frontier being uncovered, the general public wanted to visit space themselves. Although space tourism is not available to the general public right now, some wealthy individuals helped show space tourism is a reality. The whole idea began on April 28th, 2001. "On that date, American businessman Dennis Tito became history's first space tourist, paying his own way to the International Space Station aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft." (Wall, 2011) Though this is a major accomplishment, there are still many obstacles ahead for the industry. It is very expensive. Tito "plunked down a reported $20 million for his flight." (Wall 2011). With the price being that high, it is near impossible for anyone in the general public to enjoy this luxury. It also requires a lot of money to research the technology required to conduct such practices. Space tourism also requires a lot of natural resources in order to acquire materials for the rockets. With that being said, the space program is not good for the environment, and is very expensive.

As of right now, public travel to space is not permitted. The FAA is in charge of all commercial space operations, there are a limited number of rules a regulations set on the space industry. One major law was the Commercial Space Act of 1997. This act states, "to amend the earlier Commercial Space Launch Act to license commercial space transportation vehicles to reenter Earth's atmosphere and return space payloads to Earth." (Collins, 1998) Other regulations help maintain the amount of space debris the re-enters Earth's Atmosphere.

Currently, I believe that we are only scratching the surface with commercial space travel. Like all other new technologies, I would like to see the space industry become reality within 25 years.  In that time frame, I think that commercial industry will be a luxury only. It could be a faster way to travel around the globe. It may take more time and trials to see if commercial space travel would be a safe and viable means of travel. The industry needs more time to mature before people can achieve this goal. However, recently Space X announced it is planning to sell spots for a trip around the moon in 2018 and have taken deposits for the first journey. Things may develop more rapidly for the tourism sector of space travel.

There are certain qualification's a person must meet in order to consider working in the space industry. The FAA states that the pilot must have a certificate with an instrument rating. Along with this, there pilot's must also have a current first class medical in their possession. Given the high-altitude of suborbital flight, pilots and passengers will doubtless wear pressure suits, so previous experience and training in operating aircraft while wearing a pressure suit (as is the case for fighter pilots) will be a desirable pilot attribute. Another desirable qualification will be extensive training in emergency procedures and crew coordination, something shared by both commercial airline and fighter pilots. However, since suborbital flight involves high speeds, it could make sense to select pilots with experience in jet fighters, which also travel at high speed and require quick decision making. (Goelich, 2011)

This almost seems as if the requirements, from a pilot's perspective, are very basic. This may be due to the face the industry is still fairly new. Once it begins to mature and become a viable source of transportation, I feel the qualifications will become stricter.

Sources:

Collins, P. (1998, October 28). Space Future - Legal and Regulatory Issues for Passenger ... Retrieved from http://www.spacefuture.com/archive/legal_and_regulatory_issues_for_passenger_space_travel.shtml

The pros and cons of space tourism - Travel Guide by Dr ... (n.d.). Retrieved from http://drprem.com/travel/pros-cons-space-tourism/

Wall, M. (2011, April 27). First Space Tourist: How a U.S. Millionaire Bought a ... Retrieved from http://www.space.com/11492-space-tourism-pioneer-dennis-tito.htm

Goehlich, R. (2014, April). Pilots For Space Tourism. Retrieved from http://commons.erau.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=ww-graduate-studies