Pro & Con: The Final Frontier of Profit?

Artist's representation of a scheduled 2011 launch of the Taurus II, a booster built and operated by Orbital Sciences, from Wallops Island. A year ago, together with SpaceX, the Virginia-based Orbital divided a NASA contract to fly twenty unmanned resupply missions to the International Space Station through mid-2015. In June 2009 Orbital contracted with Thales Alenia in a $250 million deal to design and build the pressurized modules for Orbital's ATV "Cygnus."

From The Wall Street Journal, a debate on the pros and cons of commercializing the cosmos:

The Case Against Private Space

Taylor Dinerman

"President Barack Obama's proposed plan for NASA bets that the private sector—small, entrepreneurial firms as well as traditional aerospace companies—can safely carry the burden of flying U.S. astronauts into space at a fraction of the former price. The main idea: to spend $6 billion over the next five years to help develop new commercial spacecraft capable of carrying humans.

"The private sector simply is not up for the job."

Continued, HERE.

The Case for Private Space

Peter Diamandis

"Government agencies have dominated space exploration for three decades. But in a new plan unveiled in President Barack Obama's 2011 budget earlier this month, a new player has taken center stage: American capitalism and entrepreneurship. The plan lays the foundation for the future Google, Cisco and Apple of space to be born, drive job creation and open the cosmos for the rest of us."

Continued, HERE.