TRAINING TOPIC
ECONOMICS


CURRENT DISPLAYS
Constellations
How will Martian development and settlement be funded? Elon Musk has given a specific answer. SpaceX has launched more than 4,000 satellites into a constellation over the Earth to provide Internet access almost everywhere. They are now working to be able to launch even larger and more advanced Starlink satellites from their fully reusable Starship rocket. Elon has indicated that the estimated $20 - $30 billion in annual revenue will go towards the development of a large settlement on Mars. For comparison, NASA's entire human spaceflight budget is only $9 billion per year.

And it isn't just the Starlink constellation. The military want SpaceX to launch a more secure constellation with different capabilities that will be very difficult for an adversary to take out. And perhpas there could be other constellations such as an Earth observation constellation that will give business a competitive advantage by giving them information in near real-time. We will see.


Comparing Costs
We have here two stacks of funny money. Each bill represents $1 million. One inch has 100 bills or $100 million. How much does it cost to launch the government's SLS rocket? It has been estimated that it would take $4.1 billion. But how much would it cost for each launch of SpaceX's Starship. It depends upon a lot of things not the least of which is the degree to which it is reusable. The cost of propellant is only perhaps $2 million. But a conservative estimate is that it should be no more than $100 million.

The Space Development Network advocates for a public-private partnership between NASA and SpaceX where NASA takes full advantage of Starship just as soon as Starship proves its capabilities. In this way, NASA's large amount of money could most effectively be used by purchasing a large number of cargo and crew missions and we could get way more bang for our space budget buck.


FUTURE DISPLAYS
Jewelry
One of the earliest and most profitable sources of revenue would be to simply return chunks of rock back from the Moon and Mars and then slice them into small pieces for use in jewelry. A cubic ton of rock could produce as many as 5 million "gem stones". Given that they would be still rarer then diamonds but not as pretty, that amount could garner perhaps a half billion dollars.

Burial
Another low-mass, high value revenue stream would be to transport people's remains to the Moon or Mars for burial. There is already a booming business for space burial. This would be that same business but on a much larger scale.

Tourism
Space tourism could take the form of guided tours on Mars or the Moon, hanging out in an orbital hotel viewing the beautiful Earth, suborbital rides, or even simulated tourism experienes like exploring a lava tube while suited up, or exploring Mars on Earth in virtual reality. Our future display would be a black dome with lunar-type dirt, lit up to make it appear as though you are actually on the Moon. And if suited up with pitch black counterbalancing equipment, you would get the sense that you were in 1/6th gravity as well.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Economics Section
Elon's Venn Diagram
Revenue
SpaceX Funding
Funding Settlement
Retirement is the Business Case Video
Funding Full Self-reliance


Back to: Training