Space trade

Space trade

Space trade is interplanetary or interstellar trade. Futurists and pundits have been publishing plans and predictions about such trade since the 1960s. Science fiction writers have been envisioning such trade for much longer.

A motivator for colonization of Mars

Several people have considered trade within the solar system as one of the ways in which colonization of Mars is both important and can be made self-sufficient. Zubrin, of Lockheed Martin Astronautics, in a paper on the economic viability of colonizing Marscite paper|url=http://www.4frontierscorp.com/dev/assets/Economic%20Viability%20of%20Mars%20Colonization.pdf|author=Robert Zubrin|title=The Economic Viability of Mars Colonization|format=PDF|date=1995-09-28 ( [http://www.4frontierscorp.com/dev/assets/Economic%20Viability%20of%20Mars%20Colonization.pdf] )] , puts forward interplanetary trade as one way in which a hypothetical Martian colony could become rich, pointing out that the energy relationships between the orbits of Earth, Mars, and the asteroid belt place Mars in a far better position for involvement in any future asteroid mining trade than Earth.

Jim Plaxco, in a paper putting forward the case for colonizing Mars [cite news|title=Making Mars Relevant|author=Jim Plaxco|date=March 1992|work=Spacewatch|url=http://www.astrodigital.org/mars/whymars.html] , mentions that Phobos and Deimos can be developed, in the long term, from being short-term testbeds for the techniques of asteroid mining and staging posts for colonization of Mars itself, into key trading posts in interplanetary trade, again because of their favourable position within the solar system.

It is theorized that if different locations within the Solar System become inhabited by humans, they would need transport valuable resources between different planets, moons and asteroids [http://www.4frontierscorp.com/documents/Economic%20Viability%20of%20Mars%20Colonization.pdf Robert Zubrin, The Economic Viability of Mars Colonization] ( [http://www.4frontierscorp.com/dev/assets/Economic%20Viability%20of%20Mars%20Colonization.pdf] )] . The asteroid belt is theorized to become a source of valuable ores which may develop into industrial asteroid mining infrastructure, while Earth may export hi-tech production. The factor of energy-efficiency of interplanetary transportation may become very important to estimate economic value of a trade route.

John Hickman identified the principal obstacle to developing space trade as the distances involved, which will reduce all or nearly all trade to the exchange of intangible goods. That threatens the possibility of conducting business in a genuinely common currency and of enforcing debt agreements incurred by governments.

Building commercial spaceports

Building high-capacity commercial spaceports may require connection with other modes of transportation, such as railroad or sea, which would make spaceports another dimension of national economy. One analysis of commercial, technical, and logistical concerns for an operating spaceport, formulated by the Spaceport Technology Development Office of NASA, is Vision Spaceport [http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/nexgen/Nexgen_Downloads/Vision_Spaceport_Report_041601.doc?bcsi_scan_2DE07CD19D2BE498=0&bcsi_scan_filename=Vision_Spaceport_Report_041601.doc Vision Spaceport, Carey M. McCleskey, Technical Manager, Spaceport Technology Development Office, NASA John F. Kennedy Space Center] ]

Predictions

References

Further reading

* John Hickman. "Problems of Interplanetary and Interstellar Trade." "Astropolitics". Vol.6, No. 1. (January 2008). Pp. 95-104.
* [http://www.transhumanist.com/volume4/space.htm The Political Economy of Very Large Space Projects] by John Hickman
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See also

Commercial uses of space

*Helium-3
*Solar Power Satellite
*Space manufacturing


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