Space Commerce

John L. McLucas

Published by Harvard University Press 1991

Space Commerce

John L. McLucas

Volume 3 in the series Frontiers of Space

https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674429802

Overview
Contents

About this book

Space Commerce relates the story of private enterprise's unsteady rise to prominence as a major influence on world space policy and research. The first space race proved the technological and military prowess of the two superpowers; but since the 1970s that contest has been supplanted by a multinational struggle to command the commercial opportunities of space.

The commercial space age was born in 1965 when Early Bird, the first commercial communications satellite, went into orbit. With characteristic ingenuity, American industrialists began to dream of garnering billions of dollars per year from space-based products and services. In the microgravity of space, they hoped, hitherto unavailable drugs could be produced that would revolutionize medicine; in the high vacuum of space, crystals of extreme purity could be grown in orbital laboratories, both for biological research and for application in the manufacture of advanced microcircuits.

In this book John McLucas covers the broad sweep of space commerce, both the vision and the reality: the construction of communications satellites and their ground control stations; the sale and leasing of communications services; remote sensing and measurement of earth's processes; navigation by satellites, serving ships, airplanes, and automobiles; the design and deployment of space laboratories for scientific research and product development; and life science experiments to determine the effects of space habitation on humans.

Drawing on his considerable expertise, McLucas brings a sober perspective to his assessment of the technological accomplishments as well as the challenges still faced by industry in space. He incorporates into his discussion an illuminating analysis of the economic and political impact of space commerce and its rapidly changing international character.

Author information

McLucas John :

John McLucas was a former Secretary of the Air Force and Chairman of NASA's Advisory Council. He was also Chairman of External Tanks Corporation and a member of the Board of Directors of Orbital Sciences Corporation.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	v
FOREWORD Arthur C. Clarke Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	vii
INTRODUCTION Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1. THE EARLY YEARS OF SPACE-BASED COMMUNICATION Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	16
2. INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITES Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	40
3. DOMESTIC COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITES Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	66
4. SPACECRAFT LAUNCHES Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	89
5. REMOTE SENSING Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	112
6. NAVIGATION Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	142
7. HABITATIONS IN SPACE Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	158
8. MATERIALS PROCESSING Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	186
9. FINANCING PROJECTS IN SPACE Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	203
SOURCE NOTES Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	215
ABBREVIATIONS Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	227
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	231
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	233
INDEX Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	235

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Edition: Reprint 2014
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Front matter: 10
- Main content: 241
Illustrations
- Illustrations: 22
- Other: 16 halftones, 4 line illustrations
Keywords: Space industrialization -- United States.; Artificial satellites in telecommunication -- United States.; SCIENCE / General; SOCIAL SCIENCE / General

eBook

Published: October 1, 2013
ISBN: 9780674429802

Hardcover

Published: February 5, 1991
ISBN: 9780674429789