Dallas: “The Free-Market Revolution in Private Space Competition”

2100 North Greenville Avenue,Richardson TX 75082

15 April, 2021

Description

Join Dan Garretson, Managing Director of AIER's Bastiat Society program in Dallas for an in-person event on private space competition. Join AIER's Bastiat Society program in Dallas for an in-person event on private space competition with Dan Garretson, Managing Director of AIER's Bastiat Society program in Dallas. Until recently, launching satellites into space was an expensive undertaking, dominated by defense contractors and their chronic cost overruns. And for over a decade we were dependent on the Russians to ferry American astronauts to the International Space Station. But today, satellites are being launched almost weekly, sometimes more, and humans are again being ferried to the International Space Station on US rockets, at fixed prices that are significantly lower than before. What has changed? Several factors, including the enormous growth of the tech sector and associated innovation from the tech boom of the last several decades, which converged with an unusually accommodating stance toward private sector innovation by Congress and presidential administrations. Now, the genius of American entrepreneurship and competition are at the forefront, and the former defense contractor model is on the defensive. Innovation is happening far faster by private space companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin, RocketLab, and Virgin Galactic than NASA ever demonstrated, proving that the private sector does it better, faster, and cheaper than the government. _______________________ More about the speaker: Dan Garretson is the Managing Director of the Bastiat Society of Dallas. Dan has a Ph.D. in Theoretical Astrophysics from Harvard University, has consulted with federal agencies on space policy, and is a committed proponent of limited government.