The December Scientific American has an excellent article on “Jump-Starting the Orbital Economy” by David H. Freedman.
It’s more conservative than I would have written it (maybe that’s why Freedman got the gig rather than I, although my book Rocketeers is recommended for further reading) and it conflates the suborbital companies with the orbital ones, but Freedman makes an excellent case for commercial vehicles as the future of space travel.
His conclusion is inspiring:
“Capitalism is the most powerful tool humanity has yet devised; the drive to push beyond our earthly home is our most ambitious project. The best way to achieve one may be to hitch a ride on the other.”
