We cannot pretend to solve all our problems at once,…but we should make anything within our power to gain the time necessary to deal with them.

We should invest most of our efforts in making life in outer space a reality. Most of us have not yet grasped the huge importance it has for us humans to take all measures possible against any possible global catastrophe.

Using off-the-shelf engine technology, and off-the-shelf air-frame  technology to construct vehicles derived from the external tank is a  low-cost way to build a fully reusable multi-stage heavy lift  launcher.  Putting objects into orbit for less than $1,000 per ton!

More than 30 years have passed since I developed and taught the course Space Industrialization and National Priorities at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in 1977.  The enabling technologies to achieve the space industrialization vision of Gerard K. O’Neil’s High Frontier have been developed and refined.  Yet the results have fallen far short of that vision notwithstanding its technological feasibility.

The primary weakness that I see with US space policy is that it is far too timid.  The manned space budget at 300 million is roughly in parity with the budget for fusion research.

The sustained expansion of human space activities requires the synergy of many independently developed systems and their enabling intellectual diversity. The prevailing approach of government funded, defense technology derived, space development programs alone is not capable of achieving sustained growth. National leadership and priorities vary on time scales much shorter than typical space system development cycles. Intellectual continuity is compromised by long development timelines, and the associated drifting of program focus. Entrepreneurial efforts have demonstrated shortened development timeframes,