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

[KellySt@aol.com]

In a message dated 10/12/98 9:02:08 AM, david@playlink.com wrote:

>> ----------
>> 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

Problem is unless there is some short term profit, there will be no long term
investments.  Also the without a large scale market, mining would not be
economical in space, and there be no economy to support the major space
colonization that would support something like our starship project.

Zero G manufacturing might havesupported such mines, but interest in it has
droped a lot in the last decade.

Kelly

Kelly