Actual or Potential Commercial Uses of Outer Space

The paper must:

Be an analytical examination and interdisciplinary discussion of one or more examples of actual or potential commercial uses of outer space.
Create and synthesize a concept exploring the relationship between the commercial use of outer space and the interdisciplinary factors that have influenced the development of the commercial use(s) of outer space you have selected for your topic. A partial list of factors you may want to consider (but you are not limited to these factors): the initial government monopoly in space; the special physical and environmental characteristics of space; the unique legal and regulatory environment governing operations in space; international cooperation (or lack of cooperation); technological developments and limits; economic considerations; business judgment; national security; scientific exploration; the role of government contractors; political considerations; or the influence of science fiction entertainment.
Briefly describe the example use(s) of outer space being analyzed, but your paper cannot simply be a case study about a particular use or particular company.
Use at least 5 outside references. You may use your textbooks or articles provided in this course, but they do not count as one of your 5 references. In order to count as one of the 5, the references must be primarily scholarly/academic journals, but one newspaper/magazine article (or online equivalent) is okay. You may use as many additional references (for example online websites) as you want in order to provide additional detail in your paper, but stay away from Wikipedia or any other source that does not have a legitimate academic reputation.
Use an interdisciplinary and integrative writing style. Interdisciplinary writing combines, contrasts, or compares the disciplines together in paragraphs (and sometimes within a single sentence) rather than addressing disciplines separately. Integrative writing requires analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of information and always includes the writer’s original ideas.

ANSWER

Actual or Potential Commercial Uses of Outer Space

In 1959, the Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) was established by the General Assembly to monitor space exploration activities by ensuring they would benefit human existence. The primary objective of setting up the COPUOS was to initiate conversations that would lead to the development of meaningful collaborations between countries, promote space research programs, and explore the legal issues that would arise following the exploration of the outer space. Since then, five principles and five treaties have been formulated to government the commercial uses of outer space by indicating the approaches people should use to accomplish their desired outcomes in their immediate environment. However, the government created a monopolistic environment at first before allowing private entities such as Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Blue Origin owned by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. Some of the popular commercial uses of outer space include satellite navigation, space station television, and space imagery. Over the years, the technological evolution has had a significant impact on space exploration because of the economic considerations and the emergence of government regulations that limit different entities from succeeding in their space operations.

Satellite Navigation

The Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) is a group of space stations that provide signals to receivers in our immediate environment, which enable individuals to access different locations using their internet devices. Importantly, satellite navigation is one of the commercial uses of the outer space where entities such as the government and approved private contractors move equipment to space, which in turn sends signals to earth to allow individuals accomplish their desired goals and objectives. In many instances, conversations emerge regarding the ownership of space equipment and their impact on the quality of life of individuals (Petrov et al., 2018). While the U.S. developed and operates the Global Positioning System (GPS), Russia has the GLONASS, which performs a series of functions that complement the changing needs of individuals in their immediate environment. From this realization, both the U.S. and Russia have extended the functions of their space equipment to the international community, allowing them to tap the benefits associated with the revolutionary satellite navigation systems in the outer space.

Without the space navigation systems, it would be impossible today for individuals to trace different parts of the world because of the heavy reliance of modern technological devices on the satellite equipment. Notably, America’s GPS and Russia’s GLONASS have been approved by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) because of their ability to facilitate global aviation routes and other related functions. It should be noted that the GPS provides users with a 95% accuracy, which translates to 7.8 meters in actual scenarios (Hein, 2020). Importantly, more than 30 satellites work concurrently to emit signals, which identify the searched location by calculating the difference between the time a signal is send and when received by the user. Likewise, the GPS comprises of three components that include the control, space, and user element, which are considered important for the realization of different outcomes in the contemporary society. Therefore, understanding the functions of the GPS is an interesting component that exposes individuals to an enabling environment where they can understand the various components, which play a critical role in the realization of desired outcomes in the world today.

Satellite Television

In many parts of the world, satellite television is still operational where users access various TV channels after installing a satellite dish, which receives signals transmitted from a group of geospatial satellites. It should be noted that the signals are remitted from an earth station to the constellation of satellites in space before sending them back to earth, where they are received by the satellite dish (Abdulla et al., 2019). Established news organizations such as the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) still use the satellite television mode where they broadcast their channels through the Free To Air (FTA) satellite. Some of the primary providers of satellite television in the UK include the Sky News organization and Freesat, which appeal to different population groups regarding their ability to accomplish various outcomes in the contemporary world. Satellite television was first introduced in the late 1990s following an increased demand for clear projections of TV-related content, which shapes the perspectives of individuals towards life. However, the government’s role in the implementation of the satellite TV promoted its use around the world, transforming the corporations into important elements in the entertainment scene.

Despite the rise of digital information technology, satellite television remains a pivotal element in the contemporary world because of its ability to withstand multiple limitations provoked by the emergence of unprecedented scenarios in the world today. Today, the demand for 4K content has gone higher because of the emergence of high-bandwidth devices that promote non-linear visuals, which appeal to the changing needs of individuals. However, satellite television can be used to facilitate the promotion of high-resolution content regardless of the hindrances caused by bad weather and other environmental changes, which subject digital visual equipment to a challenging context (Ramsey, 2018). If many satellite television providers can adapt and meet the evolving needs of consumers, it is easier for them to accomplish their desired goals because of the ability of satellite television to broadcast content without being affected by issues such as bad weather among others. Today, satellite television providers are considering integrating their services with Internet Protocol (IP) based delivery to improve the overall experience attributed to the emerging changes and demand for quality service. For this reason, the introduction of advanced technological methods in satellite television delivery will not only improve the nature of outcomes but also create opportunities that can leveraged in the evolving world where individuals are expected to discover their desired outcomes.

Satellite Imagery

Commercial space exploration has exposed the world to satellite imagery, which allows meteorologists to predict weather outcomes and equip individuals with informed decisions that safeguard their wellbeing in the modern community. Forecasters review the imagery captured by the satellite cameras and use the results to piece information, which allows them to develop proactive solutions that respond to concerns held by individuals regarding their safety (Gupta et al., 2019). It would be impossible to forecast the weather without satellites because of the inability to draw any conclusions using non-spatial equipment such as cameras and drones. In the oceans where a lot of information is missed because of the unending water mass, satellites come in handy and equip people with the best results that can be used to influence their perspectives towards the future. The three types of satellite imagery include water vapor, infrared, and visible imaging, which forecasters use to analyze the ongoing events from the outer space.

Space Tourism

Unlike other forms of explorations, space tourism is an exotic travel expedition that allows individuals to gain the astronaut experience and create memories away from the earth. Today, the Russian Space Agency (RSA) is the only entity conducting space travel with the hope of normalizing regular trips to the outer space. However, the cost aspect limits the number of individuals who can access this rare experience that diversifies the perspectives of individuals towards life (Graham & Dobruszkes, 2019). Currently, there are three types of space travel offered by the RSA and include orbital, lunar, and suborbital space tourism. Unlike other space explorations, space tourism is recreational form of travel that exposes the wealthy population group to an opportunity where they can network and connect with their peers from different parts of the world. Looking at the innovations being made today; one can easily observe the depreciating monopolistic experience that the government initially enjoyed during the early days of space explorations. Currently, many governments appear to have relaxed the regulations imposed on space explorations by creating multiple opportunities that people can use to accomplish their desired goals in the contemporary world.

Over the years, the technological evolution has had a significant impact on space exploration because of the economic considerations and the emergence of government regulations that limit different entities from succeeding in their space operations. Commercial uses of outer spaces have increased over the years as many governments in the world relax their policies to allow collaborations with private contractors who have unlimited access to revolutionary technology. Based on the nature of approaches that people can use in their surroundings, commercial uses of the outer space have had a significant impact on the quality of life enjoyed by individuals in modern society.

References

Abdulla, A. M. A. V. E., Mendelson, V., Ziganshina, M., & Ziganshin, I. (2019, November). The Influence of Satellite Television on the Internet and the Development of Tourism Culture (quality of intangible services). In 4th International Conference on Innovations in Sports, Tourism and Instructional Science (ICISTIS 2019) (pp. 1-5). Atlantis Press.

Graham, A., & Dobruszkes, F. (Eds.). (2019). Air Transport–A Tourism Perspective. Elsevier. https://www.elsevier.com/books/air-transport-a-tourism-perspective/graham/978-0-12-812857-2

Gupta, R., Goodman, B., Patel, N., Hosfelt, R., Sajeev, S., Heim, E., … & Gaston, M. (2019). Creating xBD: A dataset for assessing building damage from satellite imagery. In Proceedings of the IEEE/CVF Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition Workshops (pp. 10-17). https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Creating-xBD%3A-A-Dataset-for-Assessing-Building-from-Gupta-Goodman/8fbf011af21921a553bd8b20cd6eb16897f07801

Hein, G. W. (2020). Status, perspectives and trends of satellite navigation. Satellite Navigation, 1(1), 1-12. https://satellite-navigation.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s43020-020-00023-x

Petrov, A. A., Grebenikova, N. M., Lukashev, N. A., Davydov, V. V., Ivanova, N. V., Rodygina, N. S., & Moroz, A. V. (2018, June). Features of magnetic field stabilization in caesium atomic clock for satellite navigation system. In Journal of Physics: Conference Series (Vol. 1038, No. 1, p. 012032). IOP Publishing.

Ramsey, P. (2018). ‘It could redefine public service broadcasting in the digital age’ Assessing the rationale for moving BBC Three online. Convergence, 24(2), 152-167.

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