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Why Private?
There are several factors that we believe make it impossible for private citizens to have any hope of going to space as part of any of theestablished (government run) programs:
- Any politically controlled space program cannot have the managerial stability necessary to effectively accomplish the major technological achievements required for general civilian access to space, except perhaps by dictatorial decree - in which case general access would probably be denied by similar decree.
- Space programs that are run as not-for-profit operations have no economic incentive to succeed, and are likely to continue to be nothing but an expensive play toy as long as taxpayers can be convinced to support the effort - then either discontinued or curtailed as much as is needed to quell the public outcry.
- Civilian access to space will probably be denied as long as the military establishment has a significant voice in astronaut selection - except in rare publicity stunts where a "harmless" individual - such as a school teacher - is selected to make it appear as though efforts are being made to provide more widely available direct participation of the general public. When such occurrences happen, it will be done as an effort to enhance funding for the efforts through a greater appropriation of tax monies.
The net result of all of this is we believe the only way to get to space is by establishing a privately funded, for profit, space program, and running it as a business operation. After 50 years of government-run space travel, only a dozen men have walked on the surface of another planet, and less than two hundred people have been outside our atmosphere. This is a totally unacceptable rate of progress: Now is the time for private enterprise to come along and say "Look, guys, this is how you do it!"
Please also refer to the chapter named The Private Imperative in the FKE Space Program.
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