> likely more powerful than the vast majority of US cities, the vast majority of small countries
Indeed there are not a lot of countries/cities that are wealthy/powerful enough to send people in space
Indeed there are not a lot of countries/cities that are wealthy/powerful enough to send people in space
I'm glad we've moved to a peaceful and private-public model with BO and SpaceX but its not like every country is failing everyday at getting rockets off the ground. They just don't care that much and know they can buy rocket rides from other nations, the same as buying medicine or arms from them. It just makes a lot more sense to buy space-related services from others than start your own for almost all nations.
NDT says that people do big expensive projects for 3 reasons: 1.) War (people will do anything not to die like build a great wall or an atom bomb), 2.) For religious reasons or to satisfy a monarchy(pyramids, Notre Dame cathedral), or 3.) For economics.
We spent $$$$ on the space program as it was a key part of showing off our might in the cold war (#1). NDT speculates that Mars will not happen unless there is a military or economic reason to go there since #2 isn't big anymore.
I'd guess that there's a similar number of cities and companies that could send people to space