Economic Feasibility of Space Missions - is it worth the cost?

The fundamental driver of space exploratory missions is of course the

psychological conflict arising in mankind. The tussle between man and his
surroundings fuelled by the primal desire to conquer. The human spirit
seeks to explore the unknown, and in the process explores the physical
and mental limits of endurance.
In advanced economies like the US - space missions cost approximately
$7 billion a year. If we speak in economic parlance it comes around
pennies spent on one person per day. If we benchmark the spending on
the $154 billion on alcohol or the $10 billion spent on Iraq war the figure
on space exploration looks minimal.
But dissenting voices have been raised in developing economies about
whether explorations are worth it, if it is just a meaningless bombast, and
if the funds allotted could have been used to feed the needy people in the
starving countries.
To counter views like these, voices from the Scientific Community claim
that every rupee spent on space exploration benefits people all across
India. To put it in perspective, the example of Mangalyan was cited It was
observed that Mangalyan cost each one of the 115 crore Indians just a
paltry sum of Rupees Four.
If we observe carefully economic as well as technological ROI of space
exploration have far exceeded the initial investment. It has become a
global phenomenon and no longer a monopoly of developed countries
almost 40+ countries now have their own satellites in Earth orbit.
A comparison of the technological and economic benefits with the cost
incurred for space exploration can help us evaluate this conundrum and
provide a better perspective

Earth Observation from space has provided G.P.S., prediction and

management of natural disasters, meteorological changes as well as
surveillance and intelligence.

Studying living organisms in the microgravity of space has helped us

develop wealth-generating medical instruments, mammography
tools and biopsy procedures. These are a few of the economic
benefits of manned exploration that we take for granted.

The industrialisation of space is likely to be brought about primarily

by increasing commercial activities in space like high value
pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, ultra-pure crystals, and exotic
alloys.

Space Tourism projections show that at an investment of $200/kg

the space tourism market will see an exponential growth to a billion
dollar industry. Hotels in orbit will be needed, to cater for 10,000
person accommodation after some years.

But why this sudden hurry in the Space Race, when there are several
scathing problems to be addressed? is a legitimate question. As
Senator William Proxmire had said, Mars isnt going anywhere. Why
should we commit hard-pressed budgets for space exploration when there
will always be competing interests?

The 460 crores expenditure is an investment as it has several utilities. The

most important among them is the strategic advantage India would gain
by allowing payloads of other countries in our satellites

Institution Infrastructure gets built as well as we are using advanced

technology, and creating new marvels at a frugal cost. European or
American missions were thrice costlier. It has ed us to be self-sufficient
and advanced our capabilities.

It is therefore not a bombastic expense but a future investment.

Conservatives who believe that the 460 crores should have been spent on
feeding the downtrodden fail to see the broader perspective. The union
budget amounts to an individual amount of about Rs 14,500 per person.
MNREGA and Agricultural Subsidies to help the rural poor constitutes
another Rs 280 per person. So Wealth has thus been allocated and

distributed to assist the poor, of which no money is transferred to

Mangalyaan which is funded separately from ISROs budget. Though there
are problems with inefficiencies in certain aspects of the mission as
regards to repetitive nature and lack of innovation in the missions, the
economic strategy aspect of it is quite clear and the trade-off isnt that
huge

If we can mend the inefficiencies through improved processes, gall and

cutting out bureaucracy then a positive scenario can be attained. Rs 460
crores on Mangalyan, or Rs 4 per Indian (Price of a potato) is not just a
frugal achievement but also a strategic masterstroke!