<p>When you think about it, all the companies in the private space industries only exist either thanks to government contracts or because some super wealthy people are interested in space. The only immediate commercial value of all this effort is selling flights into LEO or stays in inflatable space hotels for around a million a pop. There needs to be the potential for huge money-making in any infant industry in order for it to flourish; this leads me to believe that space exploration doesn't have much of a future -- at least in the next couple decades.</p>
<p>Well then what you believe is wrong. There is a ton of market, especially when you factor in the amount these companies can charge to perform research on all of their tourism flights and on dedicated research flights. Add in a healthy dose of human curiosity for the unknown, and you can be sure that space exploration won’t really die any time soon.</p>
<p>That’s true – however, “not really dying any time soon” is much different from the ridiculous growth of industries like biotechnology which is fueled by the enormous commercial market of people growing old and wanting to maintain their health. It doesn’t seem like there’s anything like that for space exploration. Now mining asteroids for rare minerals or beaming solar energy down to Earth from space-based solar farms would be truly lucrative, but that seems pretty far-off right now. Maybe if we just to plod along in that direction until stuff like that is commercially viable, space exploration will start to really grow.</p>
<p>Space exploration or space tourism? Space exploration is normally done for scientific purposes and is generally funded by national governments. When (if?) space tourism becomes viable it’s probably going to be heavily regulated and more than likely only available to the wealthy. How do you deal with unruly passengers in space?</p>
<p>Good point on scientific endeavors almost always being funded by governments and (to add to it) private investors such as Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos. It is kind of unfair to say “does space exploration have a future without government funding and Musk-esque space-o-philes” because, as with any kind of scientific push, those are the two primary forms of funding. That is how progress is made, and only after that initial push is made do things sometimes turn into a commercial industry.</p>
<p>In case of drop in air pressure, a space suit will deploy from above. Please fasten your seat belts, we are hitting some space debris. Your seat cushion also doubles as an atmospheric reentry device.</p>
<p>As long as derivative monetizable technologies are being developed, space exploration is more than fine. Even without that, I think there is enough interest for space exploration to thrive until it reaches the point where large scale space operations are profitable.</p>