Topic: Private Sector Access to Outer Space
Country: Spain
Delegate Name: Qusay Omran
School: Forest Hills Northern High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Spain position papers GLIMUN 2016 committees
It is often said that an unregulated, competitive market works much like an ‘invisible hand,’ allocating resources in the most effective way to reach equilibrium. Using this basic principle, some people argue that the free market is the most optimal means of success. In recent years, we have seen how the market of space exploration has opened up to a more competitive market, to a point where we now hear about firms planning to mine asteroids or even fund missions to neighboring planets. The space sector is very promising, and there is much to hope for, but we must also take care to be safe, careful, and ultimately responsible in our quest to explore that last frontier.
Spain’s history with space exploration began at the same time as much of the rest of the Western world. Although the nation did not have the financial stability to fund an extravagant project, Spain worked with the United States’ NASA program in conjunction with the rest of western Europe. At the time, space programs were simply part of a larger arms race between the US and the Soviet Union, and so the military and government generally managed all matters dealing with outer space. But we are beyond the stage of international brinksmanship in our day and age. At present, Spain firmly believes that it should be the initiatives of private companies and entrepreneurial enterprise that drive research and development in the space fields. Governments and militaries simply cannot allocate resources as efficiently as several firms, which are always in constant competition for an extra edge over the others. SpaceX, for example, should serve as a perfect example of a leader in the private space sector. By combining funding for specific projects and focusing solely on space exploration, SpaceX can outperform even NASA. Government bureaucracies are inherently inefficient; the private sector is not.
Nonetheless, it must be stated that free markets are not characterized by the absence of rules or regulations. An unbridled space industry, in Spain’s view, may become dangerous and not pay enough regard to the value of the lives of the astronauts and engineers who dedicate their whole beings to their projects. Therefore, some degree of order must be applied to the commercialization of space exploration. Spain believes in setting up a commission to determine not only the rules of space program development but also the ethics of space exploration.
The future of space development is exciting and promising. Spain hopes to play a very important role in that future. It is imperative that this mission is undertaken with a great degree of care and understanding of the potential risks involved for us all. We believe everyone should have the opportunity to join this tremendous global effort to reach out far into the stars and grace the face of God.
