RE: RE: starship-design: YES, we might do it.

[David Levine <david@playlink.com>]

> ----------
> From: 	KellySt@aol.com[SMTP:KellySt@aol.com]
> Sent: 	Friday, October 09, 1998 8:33 PM
> Subject: 	Re:  RE: starship-design: YES, we might do it.
> 
> >2005: Private companies offering sub-orbital space tourism.
> >2010: Private companies offering orbital space tourism.
> >2025: Private space stations, for tourism and experimental research
> into
> >materials and pharmeceuticals manufacturing.
> >2040: Light private industry in orbit, first tourism on the moon,
> >experimental private industry research into asteroid mining.
> >2050: Medium private industry in orbit, early lunar tourism, first
> >asteroid mining.
> 
> Plausable.  The big problem is figuring out a way to land ore cheaply
> enough.
> I mean most ore goes for dime to dollars per pound, even the cost of
> launching
> an empty lander blows those costs.  (An issue I'ld really like to
> think of a
> way around.)
> 
> 
> 
I'm assuming that early mining experiments would be performed by
industry already in orbit and that by 2050 space mining will still be
operating at a loss, with predictions for large profit in the future.

Also, perhaps by the time space mining really takes off the biggest
customers might not be on the Earth.
------------------------------------------------------
David Levine                        david@playlink.com
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