Space Exploration isn't Waste of Money But Space Race has it's Caveat

I know there are a lot of people who scream their lungs out to say that Space Exploration is an utter waste of taxpayer money. Well, I'm just not going to address it because it's just a waste of time. It's a well-known fact that space exploration has brought a lot of advancement to humanity, to name a few, microchips, GPS Systems, Medical Technologies and many many more. So I don't consider it as a "debatable" topic, the case has long been closed. Space Exploration is the result of humanity's long and old curiosity for the stars and the cosmos. So why am I writing this post now? We know about the Space Race that occurred between the United States and the Soviet Union (Present time Russia) in the 1950s during the Cold War. Sure, the space race had its pros and cons. It jumpstarted and pumped a lot of money into Space Research, speeding up technological advancement in the area. But in 2021, there is another space race that sparked into life. This time not between countries, but between private companies

                                  Image credit: Virgin Galactic

On July 11, Businessman and Founder of Virgin Group, Richard Branson flew off to space on his space plane built by Virgin Galactic. Though there's a controversy - "did Branson literally reach space?" The internationally accepted boundary between Space and Earth is known as the Kármán line which is 100km above the mean sea level. But the United States of America recognises the space boundary is after 80km. This complication is the origin of confusion and controversy. 

                                  Image credit: Blue Origin

On July 20, From West Texas, Blue Origin's New Shepard Spaceship took off to space and crossed the Kármán line with its founder and the richest man on earth Jeff Bezos on board. 

Both of these events marking a beginning of a new industry -Space Tourism. Very well, But, there's always a but! As everything has pros and cons, Space Exploration has some cons to be fixed, especially for Private Companies in the space tourism industry. It's not about money and extreme capitalism and stuff, it's something worse - Harmful Repercussions on Earth. Space tourism is now a reality for those who can afford it, the market for space tourism is quite big that it will become a well-moving industry in the coming years. 

                                  Image credit: DW

The emissions of rockets or space flights are many times higher than a regular aeroplane. A regular flight has an average of 0.2kg CO2 emission per passenger per mile, on the other hand, Virgin Galactic's space flight emits 12kg CO2 per passenger per mile. 60x times higher emissions than a regular aeroplane. These rockets and space flights also emit a lot of Nitrous Oxide which is really harmful to the Ozone layer. Bezos claims that his rocket doesn't emit any harmful gases as it uses liquid hydrogen as fuel. But there's another problem with Blue Origin's New Shephard, when the rocket is launched, a high amount of heat is generated at the ground which can produce Ozone which is useless at ground level and really dangerous.

                                  Image credit: Virgin Galactic 

I have made myself clear that it's all good, but we can't ignore these problems and just keep going forward. Virgin Galactic plans to fly 400 flights to space a year. A solid regulatory authority should be instated on an international scale to regulate these private space companies, especially on emissions and environmental impact. The competition or the space race between these private companies like Virgin Galactic, SpaceX and BlueOrigin can lead to them cutting corners and stuff which may invite adverse reverberation. For now, it would seem nothing is impacting that much but in the future, it could, if no innovative actions are taken.