The race to conquer space began in the 1960s when people started asking what lies beyond our planet. Some asked out of curiosity, while others saw a way to push the future of humanity into a new era. It wasn’t just scientists or entrepreneurs who took an interest in space exploration. Politicians saw an opportunity to forward their agendas. For fifty years, Russia and the USA were held in gridlock in their space exploration missions. Millions of funds were re-routed from the war effort to develop new space exploration technologies and educate skilled workers to fill the vacuum of manpower. Politicians were making promises of exciting discoveries every day. The masses were hysterical about the possibilities of extraterrestrial life; the hysteria was fueled by politicians from Russia and the USA, trying to make their country seem more advanced and better off than the other.
How Space Exploration Changes Politics on Earth
Not convinced? Well, did you know that the first satellite, Sputnik, was considered the ultimate victory of the Soviet Union over the United States? When the satellite launched on October 4th, 1957, the US government stared in quiet horror as the superior space exploration tech towered over their own. In the shadow of the Cold War, this monumental loss for the USA shook the foundation of a nation — and that is one of the space exploration facts few could argue.
These days, political intrigues and games are evident everywhere. Fortunately, profit often comes before political ambitions which creates an opportunity for space exploration projects and tech to be developed by international collaboration.
What Space Actors Seek in Space
These days, not much has changed about space exploration. There are more players in the space game: Russia, the USA, China, UK, etc., but the goal remains the same – profit and power. Space exploration remains tightly bound to political momentum. Take Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX. Despite being a businessman and a visionary, he holds sufficient power over the minds and hearts of regular people. His words are heard and taken under consideration, whether he means to or not. The future of space exploration hasn’t changed that much either. The goal remains the same as it always has been – to boldly go where no man has ever been before.
New technology brings an astounding amount of money to whoever manages to go public with their design first. These days, space exploration scientific teams are filled with international minds from all corners of the world. There is a lot more sharing of ideas than espionage and political intrigue. The question on everyone’s mind, however, is still the same: what resources can be gathered from space? Scientific predictions show that planets such as Mars have an abundance of Magnesium, Iron, and Chromium, resources that are highly valuable on Earth.
How Situation Has Changed with Commercial Space
We’ve seen a rise in commercial collaboration projects that deal with the development and production of space exploration tech in recent years. Enormous companies such as Exolaunch and SpaceX are great examples of modern collaboration efforts. The two companies successfully launched their ‘rideshare’ mission in 2020, carrying 30 contracted satellites to orbit. The project was very lucrative for both companies, not to mention the added benefit of increasing the number of orbiting spacecraft around the Earth. The same collaboration turned out effective for Rocket Factory Augsburg and Ukrainian rocket parts manufacturer.
There is a lot of money invested in the space industry; the overall market size was calculated to have been roughly 423.8 billion US dollars in 2019. Every large company wants a piece of the pie. But to make a profit in this industry, one needs to be willing to work with international companies. The future of business is on a worldwide scale and deals with hundreds of billions of dollars. No company can manage on its own, especially since many projects in the space industry rely on foreign materials or components for their prototypes, further encouraging the lowering of business borders and establishing a decentralized free market.
Why Collaboration Is Focal to Space Exploration
Nobody can climb a mountain on their own. It becomes even more daunting when the peak you are trying to reach is in outer space. Collaboration between different nations is not only encouraged but necessary to achieve common goals. Even sworn enemies – the US and Russia – who have been in a constant state of turmoil for half a century will need to put their differences aside for the greater good.
An excellent example of collaboration as the crowning achievement of mankind is the ISS or the International Space Station. The ISS is considered the most politically complex space exploration achievement in history since it involved the fruitful endeavors of five countries. The space station was made possible by the collaboration of the United States, Russia, Canada, Japan, and Europe. It stands not only as a fully functional space station but as a monument to what our species can achieve if we put our petty differences aside. To date, the space station has housed astronauts from 18 different countries with no plans on slowing down in the future.
Similar to how the US and Russia have a troubled political history, the US and China aren’t the best of friends. For many years, the two countries have been in a quiet rivalry in space exploration tech, opting to steal from one another rather than work together. Yet, with Chinese advances in the space industry, a corridor for cooperation has appeared. The President of the United States, Joe Biden, has announced that his administration will encourage a joint venture, pointing out that collaboration is in the best interest of everyone.
Under the new American government, space exploration companies such as SpaceX have been given the green light to explore foreign projects and cross the international collaboration line. We are mere decades from becoming a spacefaring civilization. The cost of space exploration is one that we will struggle to pay: putting our differences aside. Only time will tell if we will be successful.
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