Barriers to free enterprise in the high frontier

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Sent: Saturday, October 13, 2001 12:03 AM
Subject: [spacesettlers] Re: Barriers to free enterprise in the high
frontier

[snikt]
> While I agree that the tourist industry in space is a whole different
> beast compared with most "industries", I am not so sure I agree with
> the rest. While reducing launch costs for such a "project" - space
> tourism - to $0/lb would significantly reduce the overall costs, I
> don't know if you could get investors the three year return most
> would demand. Where would tourists go? ISS? I don't think so;
> space in the space station (bit of an oxymoron, now that I think of
> it) will be at a premium, well beyond what most "tourists" would pay
> (exceptions to the Tito-ites). So if not the only existing structure
> capable of housing ANY human being currently available in orbit, it
> would have to be an orbiting hotel. The expense of such a
> construction project would, once again, prove economically
> prohibitive.
>

Would it? What exactly is the cost of a pressurized habitat with life
support systems? Certainly, it is not a cheap thing, but since you're
assuming $0/lb I don't think that it would cost its weight in gold or silver
(as in the case of the present launch costs).

[snikt]
> Jack
[snikt]

Lucio