The New Generation of Space Exploration

You may have heard recently that SpaceX has unveiled their latest rocket, the Falcon Heavy, to much praise by the press. It's brand-spanking-new thruster technology and payload ability makes it by far the cheapest orbital transport craft yet to be made. At a staggering $1,000 per pound to lift into orbit, it is changing the young game of commercialized space exploration. If the average human weighs 150 pounds, then it would only cost $150,000 to send a man to space, compared to the millions for NASA and other space missions. This may seem like a lot of money to the layman, but in space terms, its dirt cheap. This means that the new Falcon Heavy rocket can carry huge payloads; twice as much as the closest competitor the Delta IV heavy, for a third of its price. Good news for the mega-rich who hope to one day sail to the International Space Station for the price of a well-optioned Porsche 911. Heres the rocket up close:

All this excitement brings me to some good news: Companies like SpaceX and Virgin galactic represent the first examples of sustainable business dealing with space travel, and now that such corporations are taking it upon themselves to push the limits of space travel, this has changed the economy of space. Along with Obama's plan to take money away from traveling to the moon, and allowing private business to develop orbital space stations and transport vehicles, NASA now has more room in their budget to refresh aging technology, improve the space infrastructure, develop new technologies for Solar Power to provide energy to space stations, and invent newer, more efficient means of moving our society into space and opening up a new frontier. When the news came down that we weren't going back to the moon, it was taken as a bad omen, but more and more we are realizing that it is not just closing a door to the moon, but opening another door to the rest of the Universe.

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