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Kyle Smith

Connie Douglas

UWRT 1104-032

9 February 2017

Will Privatizing Space Save This Final Frontier?

Do you ever look at the stars and moon when it is night and wonder what it would be like

to travel to these? Turns out, participation in the future exploration of the solar system is under

debate as to who should be allowed to do so. NASA (National Aeronautics and Space

Administration) has recently had problems funding their missions and this has caused citizens to

call for commercialization. Potentially allowing businesses and other private entities to

manipulate their own programs is being argued that it reduces the government from using money

towards funding NASA. Space Programs Future an article by Mary H. Cooper, argued that

One way to reduce taxpayers burden of supporting space exploration is to turn it over to the

private sector. (Cooper) ABC Premium news also wrote an article called Space industry

increasingly fueled by private enterprise as costs drop that argued how many nations and

businesses across the world are creating programs because of the job growth and other key

benefits. Coopers article was posted on CQ Researcher in 1997 while ABCs was on Points of

View in 2016. Both articles support the privatization of this industry for the potential upsides it

has for people and their communities.

Mary Cooper does a marvelous job introducing the United States space program and

expressing what its shape was up until 1997. Throughout the article, many examples, statistics,

and laws were expressed to show the business and coordination behind the industry. Although

Cooper sees the problems of commercializing this business, it stands as the industries only hope.
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Cooper states The average cost of building spacecraft is falling - from $590 million in the first

half of the 1990s to a projected $190 million in the second half and just seventy-seven million

after 2000. (Cooper) Insisting that the ship building process is becoming cheaper, it allows a

wider range of people who can afford, invest, or profit in this industry. An appeal to ethics was

Rep. George E. Brown Jr., D-Calif has long supported commercialization of space as a key to

jobs in his San Bernardino district, home to many aerospace and electronics firms. (Cooper)

After reading the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, she concludes, Part of the problem, the

study says, lies with the agency's current emphasis on the space station's potential as a platform

for scientific research rather than on its promise for future commercial ventures. (Cooper) A key

argument brought up in the article was saying NASA has been pushing back this idea so they can

be a symbol of the scientific world and earn all the potential profits. Since this article was

published in 1997, it is tough to analyze because so much has happened in the years since in

terms of laws, missions, and changes in power.

The ABC Premium News article was intended to show how this trend of privatization

will soon spread to many nations around the world. ABC starts off naming the countries and

companies who already have space programs, before going into detail of the upside and cause of

this idea. Since technology is on the rise, they state The Satellite Industry Association estimates

the sector generated $203 billion in revenue in 2014, up 4 per cent from $195 billion in 2013.

(ABC) A key stat they found was According to a recent report by Asia Pacific Aerospace

Consultants, globally commercial space activities are continuing to outpace

government space activities, growing by 9.7 per cent in 2014 and now representing 76 per cent

of the global space economy. (ABC) The rise of private ownership and work in this field may

soon overcome government run operations. Next, Marc Beaudry says, Australia has a lot of
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good engineers, I believe that potentially (people) would not have to move to the US to work

in space. Although the writer appeals to pathos, logos, and ethos, it is still a broad and short

article that does not consist of much detail or information. Since it was written in 2016, a lot has

changed in terms of wealth, power, and innovations relating to space and its industry. The only

opposition this article would have would be someone who believes NASA or government run

corporation should be the only ones in space to keep citizens safe.

Overall, Mary Coopers article does the better job of expressing the privatization of space

simply because it had more examples, statistics, and facts. A good writer always introduces their

topic and she did this by explaining past laws, missions, and business records relating to the

program. The ABC article did not have a clear intention because it did not take into consideration

an audience completely new to the topic before it went on telling the benefits of

commercialization. The source written by Cooper goes into detail about the rise of technology

and how these innovations are broadening our horizons in terms of exploration and colonization.

With more businesses and companies trying to go into space, the things humans can learn and

gain from this is immeasurable. ABCs article was a firsthand example of a weak source and

shows how our current culture has reliable and unreliable information databases. The United

States has always been a country consisting of pioneers, and many believe space is the worlds

final frontier.

Works Cited
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Cooper, Mary H. "Space Program's Future." CQ Researcher 25 Apr. 1997: 361-84. Web. 6 Feb.

2017.
Felton, John. "Space Program." CQ Researcher 24 Feb. 2012: 177-204. Web. 7 Feb. 2017.
"Space Industry Increasingly Fuelled By Private Enterprise As Costs Drop." ABC Premium

News (n.d.): Points of View Reference Center. Web. 6 Feb. 2017.