Most Profitable Ventures in Space.

[neubjr]

I've been thinking more and more about Space Commercialization, and the more I think the more I wonder about, and then the more I have to think. :) So I thought I would try to break this cycle by thinking with other people.

I have just been questioning what the most profitable space ventures would be. That could reasonably happen sometime soon.

Is tourism to the ISS the best? What about selling Moon rocks? Or Tourism on the moon? What about mining Lunar or Asteroid ores?

I have been trying to figure out what has the highest cost/investment ratio for different commercialization ideas.

I have not actually looked into too many numbers yet, I just wanted to see what other people thought about this, and if anyone had looked into different things already.

Joshua.

[JohnWright]

Are you thinking near or far-term?

In the near term media projects are probably the more profitable things. The Lance Bass game show deal, CD ROMs, space-themed rollercoasters, space-themed movies.

Launch costs in the near term just suck the profit out of everything.

In the far term probably asteroid mining and/or space solar power have good chances of turning a buck. It's just that huge capital investment you have to make after you develop really cheap launch vehicles.

I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff...oh, right, Pet Lunar Rocks...

John

[icdigital]

Why not build a magnetic gun capable of shooting large
payloads into a low earth orbit of 100 miles..
Once there a retrival team could pull it out to an awaiting work platform...
A gun of this nature in orbit would make colinization a breeze..
And may open up a trade system with future moon colonies for a rare element known as Helium 3..
Helium 3 is a potential fuel for fusion reactors that are currently under development, And could be wearth "billions" a ton..
An earth based project could be developed and built for less
than 10 billion...Once in use it could be used reproduce an
orbital version..

[JohnWright]

I'm no expert, but I think the answer is that Earth's gravity is too great for a railgun to work. The gun would be too long to be practical and/or be more expensive and technically challenging than a fleet of Saturn 5's (or 6's:))

However, the Moon is a great place for mass drivers and the like.

John

[icdigital]

Technology has come along way..
With the invention of super conductors
plazmoids and cryogenics many feats once imposible are know being realized..
As for the gravity issue, rockets can do it
why not another projectile??
The only difference is in the method
of obtaining velocity..Granted the railgun Im talking about would not be suitable for biological payloads such as humans
do to the sheer gee factor BUT,,
Any other payload would be fair game..
If we as a society can build such
wanders as the great pyramid or the golden gate a railgun of this magnitude should be a piece of cake!!



:D

[JohnWright]

Like anything in human endeavor, if you have the will and the money, you'll find a way. My guess would be that a huge fleet of big dumb rockets would be cheaper than developing a terrestrial rail gun.

But then there's the elevator idea...

J

[icdigital]

Not at all true, the initial cost of consruction would be expensive yes..
But once in operation the railgun
would pay for itself..Just think ,we are talking about the ability to refire many times in one day.Not once in a blue moon like conventional rocketry.
Not to mention I believe it may be possible to recover the charge used for propulsion and reuse it on the next
shot..Also we are talking about a device that would operate at efficiency
levels of 70 percent or greater..
Lets see a rocket do that!

[K6-III]

The problem with a magnetic launcher is that the majority of your payload goes into the heatsheild, making it less efficient than a comparable chemical rocket. It is an ideal launch platform for the moon, however....

[icdigital]

You are 100% correct,but I have been working on a new concept that could revolutionize the heat shield idea using magnetic field lines and strong moving electric currents that manuver the heat away from the hull..
It may also be possible to beam the
energy needed to operate the cooling system to the 'gizmo' reducing overall wieght of the unit.
So you see this isn't a half hearted
attempt I have tried to cover my bases.
I believe the technology is present
to produce results..
What I am proposing would be a great endeavor for humanity to acomplish,,
But, great endeavors are not
impossible ones..
And I believe that this would be no different...

[K6-III]

Actually, if you could unify a few African states in this effort and get access to Mount Kilmajaro, this could serve as a serious boost to their economic potential as well as for humanity's access to space...

[icdigital]

(I LIKE THIS GUY)

Okay the sight you mentioned is
actually one I have thought of using..
However,the U.N. just sanctioned off
like a gazzillion acres around the
mountain as a wild life sanctuary or something..
True, revenue generated from the railgun would enable enviornmental issues to be met and spur economic growth .It may even bring peace to
a hostile region.But putting the thing together in the middle of a
National Forest of sorts would be
asking for trouble from earth consious
activists,even if the work was to further humanities presence in the universe..
I have even done some extensive research on how the geothermal
heat present at this sight and others might be used as onsight clean
and efficient power..
What eludes me now is the ability
to transfer massive ammounts of
energy between the magnetic coils
efficiently.If I can find a way to use
a plasma based medium for current
flow I think it would be a done deal.
However the work is on going..
Eventually I am going to have to
get a Doctors degree to convince
the world I am worthy of using my brain..But that seems a long,loooong,
way away..
Time is a ruthless advisary ,
and I am not getting any younger
despite the anti aging cream..lol

[K6-III]

Seeing as the UN is subject to the will of the nations within, this could be made to happen should the nations decide to cooperate and make it a reality. Seeing as much of the construction could be done underground, it may bother them a bit less. For power, why not use what we already know, such as Nuclear power???

....as for the rest...I encourage you to continue for humanity will need your efforts...

If launch costs can be brought down significantly, people can invest several years' savings into colonization...literally picking up and moving......

...feel free to comment on my thoughts....

[icdigital]

I have never been a big fan of
nuclear fission.Though it has been a
quick fix for societies energy needs,
I cannot say the ends justify the means
entirely..
Fusion however would be ideal if the
technology becomes available..
Given that Kilamanjaro is still
considered an active vulcano the
energy available on sight in the form of geothermal could probably power the entire country if harnessed.
If another sight is to be used fission,
regretably, may be the only alternative.

- As I have said still much work to do-
.

[K6-III]

Assuming you have a refinery to reprocess nuclear waste, it is hardly bad....the problem is the US doesn't have one.....

98% of Nuclear waste can be reused in a nuclear reactor....a fact that most environmental groups either don't know or refuse to mention....

They, through ignorance, have turned "nuclear" into a word that is bad to say in public, as if it were the "N" word....

[icdigital]

Please inform me more on the refining process..
How does it work?
Is it expensive?
And if the ability does exist why doesnt the U.S. have a program in place??
Does it envolve light water reactors
or breeder reactors?
Any info on this would be helpful to
ongoing research..

[K6-III]

Actually, my brief summary is from a retired nuclear engineer. You can find his website at this link: http://www.beyondearthorbit.org/

A link to his email should be on the right side....

[Pekings Divine5]

I've been thinking more and more about Space Commercialization, and the more I think the more I wonder about, and then the more I have to think. :) So I thought I would try to break this cycle by thinking with other people.

I have just been questioning what the most profitable space ventures would be. That could reasonably happen sometime soon.

Is tourism to the ISS the best? What about selling Moon rocks? Or Tourism on the moon? What about mining Lunar or Asteroid ores?

I have been trying to figure out what has the highest cost/investment ratio for different commercialization ideas.

I have not actually looked into too many numbers yet, I just wanted to see what other people thought about this, and if anyone had looked into different things already.

Joshua.

Yes, turn that dead white dwarf star into the latest high-tech mine. BPM 37093, is a Super massive Diamond, a carbon crystallized white dwarf star approximately 4,000 km across

[Imo O. Uche]

Yes, turn that dead white dwarf star into the latest high-tech mine. BPM 37093, is a Super massive Diamond, a carbon crystallized white dwarf star approximately 4,000 km across

Mr. Joshua, I agree with you that the space will be profitable if commercialised. Now, since the space is part of the heavens, I will advised that we invest more on what makes heaven happy and God generally--- that is on souls through the gospel.

There is always joy in heaven when a soul is won. In that case, when we invest more on God's business, He will show us how to mine the precious stones/ jewels recorded in Revelation 21:18-21. Some of them mentioned include; jasper, pure gold, clear glass, chalcedony, topaz, sardonyx..., and we will experience more enduring wealth.

Remain blessed,
Imo O. Uche

[jpeachman787]

First of all, this is my first post so hello everyone! Now here's my two cents...

I'm sure there are hundreds of profitable ventures to be had in space, but I think we're all talking about near term ventures right??

Most market booms have been transportation or communications related (cars, railroads, airplanes, phone, TV, internet, etc.). We've already had a communication's boom in space, thanks to satellites.

So let’s look at transportation. Sure, space tourism is a market but, in the near term, it will only be a small one because we have to build the space stations for people to visit. I read once that "a lot more people want to go to Tokyo than to orbit." The biggest "profitable space venture", I think, will be operating reusable rockets that bring people from place to place on earth very quickly. A large space station might have 100 visitors a week, but a city on earth already has several million commuters a week (evidence: every second there are hundreds of thousands of people on airplanes). We're talking about a huge load of traffic. And yes, this does count as a "space venture" because the rockets would enter a sub-orbit in order to accomplish this.

Then, once there is actually somewhere in space to go (space colonies, moon and mars colonies) then transporting people back and forth between these destinations will be a big business. But that’s not near term, that’s very far term.

[mpollicino]

I think that in the short term, space travel would be to costly. There is of course, the vehicle cost. But more so, insurance would be unaffordable.

So, if a company could ‘buy’ a small parcel of land on the moon (maybe it’s free if they stake a claim, I don't know) and if they were to build an icon to other living beings (maybe a pyramid) and if they to build that icon out of blocks, they could sell an inscription on each block.

How many people would pay $1000 for their name and a few words of wisdom on a block. Out of the what, 6 billion people on earth, would 1 million do it? I think so. That’s 1 billion dollars to build a small pyramid. You’d probably get 10 times that number of people to do it.

michelle

[JediJosh]

Most profitable Space Venture?

One word for you. Velcro.

[rmiller]

Looks like NASA wants to get on the commercialization bandwagon too:

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewnews.html?id=1034

I hope it works out. I am all keen on space exploration, but the present method (relying on the goodwill of governments) doesn't seem to have us progress as fast as I would like.

Regards,

[Cadrock]

The nuclear recycling program was being developed in the US in the 70s. In was to the point that about 99% of the stuff thats ear-marked for Yucca mountain could be re-used in reactors over and over agian. However the envimental activist new that if this fact came to light they would never be able to shut down the nuclear energy program. So instead they heavy-handed president Carter to shut down the system. Its been buried since then either forgotten or too much of a hot isse for politicians to touch. (Politicians don't want to touch issues that get enviro-nazis all over them)

As for the problem of getting juice between the high energy magnetic coils, try looking underground for your answer... say maybe... the huge particle accelrators at CERN, if they can propel atoms to 99.999% the speed of light, maybe they can get something a lot bigger to go alot slower.