So, SpaceX just made history with the world’s first commercial spacewalk. Four people are in a capsule orbiting Earth, and two of them — Jared Isaacman, a billionaire, and Sarah Gillis, a SpaceX engineer — decide to step outside into the vacuum of space like it’s no big deal.
Now, this sounds super cool — and it is! But it also raises some big questions. SpaceX, the brainchild of Elon Musk, the guy who everyone either hates or loves, depending on who you ask, wants to make space travel an everyday thing. They’ve got plans for reusable rockets, private space missions, and eventually, maybe even settlements in space. But while they’re dreaming big, they’re also facing big problems.
First, there’s the environmental cost. Rockets burn a lot of fuel and leave debris everywhere. Space is already filling up with junk. Since 2018, SpaceX’s Starlink has launched over 6,000 satellites into low Earth orbit, with plans to increase that number to as many as 40,000. And they’re not alone. Amazon, China, OneWeb, and even Facebook have their own plans to launch thousands of satellites. It's a new kind of space race, but it’s also creating a crowded and increasingly cluttered environment above us.
So, yeah, this is a big deal. But let’s not get carried away. What happens when spacewalks become just another thing rich people do on a Tuesday?
Share this post