The space indOver the past decade, the industry has experienced rapid growth with the rise of economic giants proposing relationships with NASA. Given the current climate change and global warming issues, the industry’s evolution raises concerns about the environment.
The control over the space exploration industry has been gradually transferred to private companies since the 1990s. This is also known to be the privatization of space industry.
New plans and missions for the future exploration are now in place Competition and determinationAs more private companies vie for dominance in the industry, the number of such companies is increasing. Notable private companies such as Space-XAnd Blue OriginAfter a series of correlations between their projects and environmental issues, the public is now questioning whether they are interested in entering the space industry.
Space industry privatization is a complex topic that has been established by NASA’s history.
NASA was funded completely by the government until the 1960s. Spaceflight and internal relations remained under the control of the U.S Government. In 1970s, everything changed. NASA’s budget was contractedNASA’s inordinate spending on projects that NASA didn’t view as important as reaching out to the moon, which was the current goal of U.S. Government, was a major reason why the government was unable to pay for their programs. NASA’s discoveries were not popular enough to captivate Congress and the American public. Their overall public funding was cut after they lost popularity.
The private sector was slowly growing, even though public expeditions lost funding. After the Columbia rocket disaster in 2003NASA’s budget was just 0.68%, or around $20 billion, of total government investments. At the height of NASA funding, in the early 1960s during the Apollo Space Program, the government spent $49.4B on the project. This was a much larger amount than the government currently spends.
In 2004, President George W. Bush passed the tThe U.S. Space Exploration Policy, The U.S. government agreed to finance NASA rocket-building because it was afraid of heavily relying upon Russia for transportation. This law was never fully implemented and NASA partially continues to be in partnership with Russia today, using their Soyuz rocketIt is used as a mode of transportation.
Blue Origin SpaceX and SpaceX are the two largest companies in the space industry, and they are also the most influential in the development space exploration.
Space X was created in 2002 by TeslaElon Musk is the CEO and billionaire. Musk’s first order of business in the industry was to build a large spacecraft specifically designed to transport passengers to and from Mars and the International Space Station (ISS).
With the success of Musk’s first rocket launch in 2008, he began to privately sell rockets to the U.S. government with a flat rate of $2.6 billion applied to six rocket launches. NASA was attracted to this new number because it was affordable for launching rockets. Space-X was awarded the dominance of this deal. 60%Space-X has an advantage over other private companies because of its six-year contract with NASA.
NASA’s acceptance of the deal was a sign of their support for the privatization of space.
NASA’s recently retired administrator was recognized at the Kennedy Center in Florida. Steve Jurczyk, said: We are going to do the technology development and research to continue to support commercial space.
Blue Origin, a company that supplies rockets to the army, was founded by Jeff Bezos in 2000. In 2000, Blue Origin was awarded a contract worth $500 Million from the U.S. Air Force. Bezos works to reduce some of the environmental pollutants currently affecting the Earth’s environment, in addition to a partnership with USAF.
We must remove all heavy industry, polluting industry, from space and move it there. Bezos claimed Earth to be a beautiful, pristine planet in an interview.Interview NBC News.
Bezos, like many others, sees climate change a significant problem and believes that his simple solution to reduce the effects of climate changes would be beneficial.
President Biden sat down with BezosThe administration is looking into collaborating with NASA and Bezos through a separate contract.
According to The Hill It will take decades to build a space industrial infrastructure. NASA’s commercial partners will compete for a space transportation network that can send people and tools into orbit.
Two of the most prolific polluting sites are industrial factories and mining sites.Industries around the globeBiden and Bezos believe that the removal of these organisms would have a positive impact on global warming.
Blue Origin is a program that Blue Origin is directing towards other than this plan. Space travel interestsIt uses large capsules to transport people into and out of space. These capsules are, however, not like Space-X. They are specifically designed and manufactured for commercial purposes.
These entrepreneurs [Bezos]Private citizens are being taken into consideration [to space]The majority of the passengers so far have been extremely wealthy. This has raised questions about who is ultimately benefited. Christian DavenportAuthor of The Space Barons, and a reporter at The Washington Post.
The only quick-fix to climate change, which is moving heavy industry to space, is still not working. Earth is still in trouble.
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The carbon footprint of launching into orbit with [Bezoss rockets]This is almost 100 times higher than for long-haul flights. It’s extremely problematic if we are trying to be environmentally responsible and reduce our carbon footprint. ”
— Eloise Marais
The carbon footprint of launching into orbit with [Bezoss rockets]This is close to 100 times higher than for long-haul flights. Its incredibly problematic if we want to be environmentally conscious and consider our carbon footprint,” said Eloise Marais, a physical geography professor at the University College London, n an interview with Vox Magazine.
Bezos claimed that liquid hydrogen (or oxygen), two potential greenhouse gases, can be used to fuel Blue Origin rockets. It is less harmful to the environment.
According to Aeroqual:Common air pollutant: Nitrogen dioxide [a combination of nitrogen and oxygen].”
Blue Origin contributes to greenhouse gas emission by making liquid hydrogen from nitrogen and oxygen.While most people are familiar with climate change and its causes, it is not well-known that the space industry has a significant impact on global emissions.
As the space industry becomes more profitable, resources that could be used to solve problems on Earth are being diverted to space exploration. This is because the industry has received greater attention without spreading knowledge about how it can be harmful to the environment.
AmazonBezos’ original company, which sells products through retailers or under their own branding, has over 500,000 employees. 456 Million Pounds of plastic annually
According to the Plastic Pollution Coalition91% of that [plastic]It is likely that it will end up in nature, in landfills or incinerate. A lot of it has been sent away from North America to Europe to countries in South Asia.
Amazon not only contributes to land pollution but also sea pollution.
A report by OceanaIt was shown that Amazon contributed more than 22 million pounds to plastic pollution in the oceans.
Musk announced in January that he would openly discuss his plans.Close to a Texas Launchpad In search of natural gas to power SpaceX’s rockets, in particular its Starship model. According to the American Association for the Advancement of ScienceDuring drilling production, methane emissions occur.
The American Association for the Advancement of ScienceThat was the conclusion [methane emissions happen throughout]Drilling production
Methane is used to fuel rockets. It can combine with liquid oxygen, releasing large amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. With Carbon emissions pose a serious threat for the environmentMusks rocket would be a contribution to the issue.
The Space-X Texas site, near Boca Chica, is home for many wildlife, including shorebirds as well as sea turtles.
In 2013, the U.S. Government passed a bill allowing Space-X’s testing site to be Boca Chica. Texas Highway 4 was also closed down when necessary. Debris from the rocketSince then, tests have been causing harm to wildlife and, without proper protection, could permanently cause damage to the environment.
Bezos is working to improve the environment as the industry grows.
According to CNBCBezos stated in a speech at United Nations that To protect our planet, humanity must stand together.
He explains the 11 million tons of carbon dioxide that are currently being absorbed into forests and the dangers this poses for the environment. He also pledged $10 billion to combat climate change, with $1 billion going to conservation efforts.
From the average person’s perspective, it seems that Bezos has finally stepped up for climate change. However, his work with the space industry is quite different.
Students voice their disagreements on the climate change issue, in line with the privatization and expansion of the space industry.
I feel like it will get to a point where the ultra-rich have to give something to fix the planet, and theyll feel a responsibility,” said Prithvi Dixit, a sophomore at Carlmont.
Kaitlin, a freshman and climate activist, has a different opinion.
If [Bezos]If he cares about his integrity, and the planet, he should make every effort to pollute less, particularly since he has such a large amount of wealth. As climate change becomes worse, the issue seems to be handed to each generation; I believe that the plans for space will make resolving climate change much more difficult and prolonged, as all of that money should go into fixing climate change instead of space,” Chow said. “We should focus on helping our planet before exploring others.
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If [Bezos]If he cares about his integrity, and the planet, he should make every effort to pollute less, particularly since he has such a large amount of wealth. Climate change is getting worse and more people are being asked to address it. I believe that plans for space will make it harder and longer to solve the problem of climate change. All of the money should be spent on climate change, not space. We should focus on helping our planet before exploring others.”
— Kaitlin Chow
