In space, no one hears you flip-flop, opinion, Eric Sterner, Washington Times

"There is no truly free commercial market for human spaceflight to low-Earth orbit. The current supply-and-demand curves do not intersect without massive government intervention. So-called space tourism to the International Space Station existed only because the Russian Space Agency was willing to sell government capacity to wealthy elites at the margins. (The same cannot be said for suborbital space, which is experiencing truly revolutionary developments in technology and free-market economics.)"

Keith's note: Oh, so let's just throw up our hands in defeat and walk away simply becuase of the way things are right now, eh? How about shifting the government-only monopoly to transport of crew and cargo to the ISS to one that is open to the private sector where market forces of supply, demand, competition, and innovation can work their magic? I continue to be baffled by how many Republicans, including my very good friend Eric Sterner, seem to have zero faith or interest - in seeing the private sector earn a role in the exploration and utilization of space - as it has had in virtually every other aspect of our society over the past several centuries.

Republicans have tried to spur economic development in space - and have met with only partial success. But they tried, to their credit. Yet, when a Democrat tries, they seek to stop him before he even has a chance to try. Go figure. At least Eric sees that another region of space i.e. "suborbital" is a place where market forces can create excitement and value. Hmm, why is that, Eric? People used to call this the "ignorosphere".