Most of us have heard of “Moore’s Law” promulgated by Intel founder Gordon Moore who predicted in the 1960s that the cost of computing would drop by half every 18 months. That prediction has been realized over the decades resulting in the awesome and affordable technology we all have access to.
No less remarkable than the fall in the cost of computing is the dramatic drop in the expense of space exploration due to Elon’s Musk’s SpaceX innovation of the reusable booster which allowed the US to claim 81% of all global launches in 2023. Britain is second with 5 %. Launches of satellites and people have become so commonplace that we forget that it was once so expensive that only the government (e.g. “NASA) could undertake them.
Whatever you think of Elon Musk, his achievements in reducing the cost of space travel rival those of Henry Ford in producing an affordable car for the mass market in the form of the Model T, Andrew Carnegie’s achievements in making low-cost steel (and therefore skyscrapers) commonplace, and Gordon Moore’s ever cheaper microprocessor and the digital life you enjoy today..
SpaceX’ achievements are truly remarkable. Get up to speed on a truly remarkable economic event with this one page post SpaceX: Leading Space Innovation.
