opening the solar system

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Viable space commerce and future space exploration will require advanced power and propulsion technologies capable of multi-megawatt power generation with high specific impulse, moderate thrust levels, and low system specific mass. Conventional rockets and nuclear thermal will be sufficient for low earth orbit and cislunar applications, but cost-effective travel to Mars and asteroid mining will require much higher specific jet power. 

Getting to low Earth orbit is currently the most power intensive part of space travel. The rapid advances in reusable launch vehicles will open the door a bit wider. But in the future, sustainable space commerce will require even more efficient means to cross the Kármán line. This will include hypersonic flight systems that take advantage of the atmosphere to deliver advanced aerodynamic and propulsion capabilities. The importance of trans-atmospheric flight extends beyond Earth and LEO. Trans-atmospheric capabilities will also enable access to the surfaces of Mars and Titan, as well as  atmospheric mining of Jupiter and Saturn for propellant.

Safe environments and habitats, power, thermal management, radiation protection, logistical systems, and communications are among the infrastructure that will be needed to sustain human settlements in space. The earliest space commerce outside LEO will likely focus on mining asteroids to obtain valuable materials for use on earth. But as human presence in the Solar System grows, the greater value of these resources will become apparent – vast reservoirs of raw materials that do not have to be lifted from deep planetary gravity wells. 

Throughout history, human migration has benefited the emigrants’ homelands. As humankind leaves its cradle to become a multi-planet species, the benefits to Earth promise to be as profound as those of any historical migration, and at a time when our home planet will be increasingly challenged by climate change and population pressures. Technologies for sustainable growth on earth will include fusion power and renewable energy, as well as technologies developed to support the expanding human presence in the Solar System, possibly including adaptive or remedial environmental engineering on a planetary scale.