A new thrill ride for the ultra-rich, harmful to the planet. This is what, for many, space tourism boils down to. But experts plead for more clemency. Without totally rejecting these aspects, they highlight the benefits derived from the emergence of this sector.
Access for science
The first argument is that these private flights can carry scientific experiments, in addition to their customers. Space tourists “buy a flight that might not have taken off otherwise,” notes Ariel Ekblaw, founder of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Space Exploration Initiative.
However, being able to send an experiment into space has remained extremely difficult until now, with only two possibilities: the International Space Station (ISS), with limited capacity, or parabolic flights carried out by planes, but providing only a few tens of seconds of microgravity.
Funding for innovation
Space tourism also represents a source of funding to develop new flight technologies, in a way that is drastically different from government agencies.
The latter operate with taxpayers’ money and therefore move extremely cautiously, while companies like SpaceX are not afraid to blow up prototypes, according to a faster development process. Any government would be “embarrassed to publicly describe the failures that SpaceX happily talks regarding,” said Mason Peck, professor of aeronautics at Cornell University.
And when NASA focuses on cutting-edge scientific innovations, companies seek to improve the rate and profitability of launches, thanks to reusable vessels.
Environmental awareness
The last argument put forward paradoxically has to do with the climate. Anyone who observes the Earth from space realizes its fragility and the thinness of its atmosphere. The hope is therefore that on returning, space tourists will become more committed to protecting the environment.
“It gives you a sense of urgency to be part of the solution,” says Jane Poynter, co-founder of Space Perspective, which plans to take tourists from 2024 to observe the Earth in a capsule pulled up to 30 km altitude by a huge balloon. This vessel was precisely developed for its minimal environmental impact.
Despite everything, according to Mason Peck, space research contributes in particular to protecting the Earth. “Thanks to advances in space technologies, terrestrial solar panels have become better,” he says, for example.
By Lucie Aubourg, AFP
