One of my assumptions is getting off earth will always be the most expensive part of any space activity. Implications are
getting bulk materials from other than earth will be critical to make it sustainable
some degree of local manufacturing and farming is vital
mining in space will never be worth returning to earth
Therefore even relatively small permanent presences in space might quickly turn to “trade”. If we can refine mineral X on the moon it may be cheaper to ship to a Europa base than for Europa to find it locally, and both be far cheaper than bringing it up from earth
One of my assumptions is getting off earth will always be the most expensive part of any space activity. Implications are
Therefore even relatively small permanent presences in space might quickly turn to “trade”. If we can refine mineral X on the moon it may be cheaper to ship to a Europa base than for Europa to find it locally, and both be far cheaper than bringing it up from earth