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Commerce & the Establishment of a Space Economy

Home Commerce / Economy

space commerce, economy

The Institute for Space Development Research is working on research and technology concepts related to resourcing space and establishing a space economy. We believe that in the long-term resources from space can be used to benefit Earth, develop permanent human settlements, and establish a space economy and private industry capable of supporting humanity's further expansion into our solar system.

Doing it Right

The Institute for Space Development Research believes that the right course of action for space development is to do things in parallel, taking multiple steps at once, with the specific intent of developing the near-Earth system and heavily leveraging private industry to establish self-supporting space activity. Doing so allows the sharing of resources and technologies that ensure success, enable a space economy to emerge, speed up the process, and reduce risk.

Developing key operations in parallel lets each operation benefit from the others. Further, the establishment of basic space infrastructure creates a platform upon which private industry can build, and eventually assume the costs of further space development, enabling reduced tax-payer/public support for space development. We believe the time to begin this effort is now and we work to accelerate this process.

Near-Earth System Commerce

The Institute for Space Development Research is working on a plan, treating the near-Earth region as a single system, to establish a means for humanity to expand into the nearby region of space in a way that becomes maximally self-supporting, with longer-term potential for "exporting" to Earth and developing a space economy. As we expand into our solar system, we must do so in steps that allow the sharing of resources between locations and operations so that each can leverage the other. In this way we can get a space infrastructure in place as quickly as possible that will enable private industry to take over the investment cost of further development.

Our primary areas of interest include:

Energy acquisition and distribution for space-based operations and for Earth.
Mining of the nearby space environment including asteroids, the moon, and other solar system resources.
The logistics of permanent human settlement throughout the nearby solar system including how resources will be distributed and shared.
Technologies for habitation, surface structures, transport, resource acquisition, and space-based manufacturing/assembly.
The establishment of a "space economy".
Space law concerns, resources access, & property rights.
The "synergy" of all of these factors to maximize progress & reduce costs.

Please Consider Contributing to the Institute for Space Development Research

We hope you'll consider contributing or donating to the non-profit efforts of the Institute for Space Development Research. Our work supports the effort to explore and develop the near-Earth environment for the benefit of Earth and humanity, research human settlement and space-based resource acquisition, and remove barriers for private industry while creating technical jobs, economic opportunity, and supporting the next generation.