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b'With private space companies launching rockets, satellites, and people at a record pace, and with the U.S. and other governments committing to a future in space, today\\u2019s guest Glenn Harlan Reynolds looks at how we got here, where we\\u2019re going, and why it matters for all of humanity. Reynolds is a law professor and former executive vice president of the National Space Society, thinks commercial space is essential to the future.
Author of the book \\u201cAmerica\\u2019s New Destiny in Space,\\u201d he discusses America\\u2019s future in space, which will be dominated by the private sector rather than the work of government space agencies. We explore how space will inspire innovation, possibly create trillions of dollars in wealth, and pump incredible new energy into human civilization.
Reynolds describes three phases of spaceflight in history so far. Visionary (early 20th century), \\u201ccommand-economy,\\u201d from the Apollo to the Shuttle eras, and finally, a \\u201csustainable\\u201d phase, which he defines as \\u201cspaceflight that generates enough economic value to pay its own way.\\u201d
This means that getting into space has become far cheaper than it used to be, and that it promises to get much cheaper still. This creates immediate possibilities like cheap satellite Internet from SpaceX\\u2019s Starlink, but also more exotic technologies: space-based solar power, asteroid mining, and helium-3 extraction from the Moon. Reynolds also talks about what we need to do to bring about this future: little regulation and the government acting as a customer, but otherwise getting out of the way.'