Commercialised space travel a 'big' baby step

We may be entering the second stage of the “space age”. That is to say that, after nearly 60 years of governments and highly-trained astronauts monopolising exploration of what is beyond our sky, the time may be coming for ordinary citizens, albeit rich ones, to head up and out into the unknown. 

Space travel, like many things, appears set to become more and more common and less and less exciting. The children of the future, it seems, will find it hard to believe that there was a time when weeks or months separated two rocket launches.

Companies are seriously looking into commercialisation of space vacations, meaning the leap can be closer than many people think. A large amount of money has started to pour into an industry that was unthinkable two decades ago, or was only perceived in the not-so-distant past by science fiction writers. 

Last month, a report part-funded by NASA suggested that a permanent moon base could be finished in less than two decades. Holidays to the moon or trips to Mars are getting closer to reality than ever before.

Human beings were explorers. The majority only stopped exploring when we learned the concept of farming and keeping and raising animals. The world has little left to explore and this could contribute to a boom in commercialised space travel. Another factor speeding up space exploration is what looks like an unstoppable population growth globally.

There have been missteps in the race to make commercialised space travel a reality, but human history has shown that accidents can’t stop ambition. One thing to keep in mind is this: within a single decade, we launched the first satellite into space and sent men to the moon before basically losing interest in it. 

As of now, the biggest hindrance to space tourism is the hefty cost, but surely the same must have been said before travelling in airplanes became something so common. All we need is that little tipping point.

Besides airplanes, we are already linked heavily to the skies by other means. Our computers, mobile phones or even automobiles receive information beamed down from satellites. The photos that we share and the songs that we upload travel to the skies before us. Earth messages have been sent through the universe, underscoring the belief many of us harbour – that we are not alone in the grand scheme of things.

When it first begins, commercialised space travel will certainly be about fun and excitement. But at the end of the day, mankind will make a big leap in a bid to have a fundamental question answered. The question blends our religious, scientific and philosophical curiosities. We simply want to know if anyone else is out there and do we have anything in common.

Commercialised space travel will be a baby step. But look how much and how fast humans achieved things once we discovered we could make fire. Our world will never be the same once ordinary people start making space trips. 

A lot of things changed when the first photograph of Earth from space was taken. That was when we knew that we know next to nothing. More prevalent space travel may confirm the astronomical adage that the more we see, the less we seem to know. But it will be quite exciting all the same.