Why go to space? - The CGO
Space enthusiasm can be baffling to the uninitiated. Why are some nerds so enamored with space? Why should society spend any resources to go there? Why are billionaires jockeying to realize their visions for space development? Why do we give NASA over $20 billion per year, and the Space Force nearly as much? Why should we do any of this if we still have problems on Earth?
If you flip it, there’s no more NASA. Space Force and SpaceX disappear. All the weather and climate data that National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) collects from space goes offline. The National Reconnaissance Office is suddenly blind.
What would happen? The quality of life on Earth would rapidly degrade. Democracies would find themselves increasingly threatened by authoritarian powers. We would lose vital scientific resources. Our institutions would experience a slow decline.
Space already has a surprising impact on modern life. This is particularly true for satellites. Global satellite communication systems are used by the broadcast industry, but also for critical safety-of-life functions aboard planes and ships, which sometimes travel out of range of other communication methods. Workers on board oil platforms use satellites to connect to civilization. As SpaceX’s Starlink broadband satellite megaconstellation continues to grow, millions of rural households may soon get access to speedy Internet service for the first time.1“Home,” Starlink, https://www.starlink.com.
