After watching the news about the mars exploration, I realized that people’s views differ on the subject that will be funding the future space (mars) exploration. I personally think private companies will be in charge of space exploration in the future rather than public institutions, namely, the government, because of these three reasons.
Firstly, privatized companies are willing to fund when they can generate revenue, and mars exploration yields a profit for them. The role of government in space exploration is to do the things that the market can’t support. On the other hand, private companies take part when they can generate their own revenue (Forbes). Due to future scientific development, there are much larger possibilities that private companies can generate revenue. The global space industry is expected to generate revenue of $1.1 trillion or more in 2040, up from the current $350 billion, according to a recent report by the firm, and compared to the money being invested, it can create large amounts of profits (University of Pennsylvania).
Secondly, Government (or NASA) funding wasn’t successful until now. According to Forbes, “To fill the void left by discontinued NASA programs, many private companies have received commissions from NASA to perform important functions.” Like, because NASA knows that they aren’t sufficient to further carry on the Mars exploration, they are giving love calls to different private investors and companies for help (Forbes). After all, most of these inventions were simply inspired by NASA’s technology, not specifically produced by NASA. Stealing money from individuals and giving it to programs like NASA isn’t the only way to fund humanitarian efforts that we deem valuable, but the Foundation for Education Economy suggests that various organizations benefit our society and are funded through private companies and voluntary donations (Foundation for Education Economy).
Finally, Government and NASAs’ budget is being threatened for Mars exploration. Watzin from Spacenews.com said some of the ongoing space missions including the Mars exploration are threatened by the administration’s fiscal year 2021 budget proposal. “The FY21 budget that the president just recently submitted overall is extremely favorable for the Mars program, but available funding for extended mission longevity is limited,” Watzin said. In addition, there will be a reduction of the budget from $51.1 million in 2019 to $40 million in 2021, with no funding projected for that rover mission beyond 2021 (Spacenews). Without appropriate funding from the government or NASA, it seems essential for the private company to have a lead role in future Mars exploration.
Writer: Michael Kim
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