Mars Colonization Case Study

Introduction Mars colonization is a topic that has been brought to the attention of the media and of the public in recent years by aspirations made by companies such as SpaceX and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Several factors make it a topic worth discussing about, like concerns regarding the continuity of the human species and economical, technological and scientific worth of that endeavor. In this way, markets will suffer significant impacts once humans strive to and succeed in becoming multi-planetary. This paper seeks to analyze these changes in the economic structure of human society. This analysis will be made by taking into consideration three separate moments in the process of humans becoming a multi-planetary …show more content…
As the feasibility of Mars colonization is demonstrated by SpaceX and the firm makes profits at the allocative efficient point, other companies will have incentive to enter the market, increasing competition and motivating more innovations. As more resources enter the market, supply will be shifted further to the right, and there will be more people going to Mars. As more people and resources go to Mars, the industries will generate more profits because of economies of scale, and as the hard part that the first humans had to endure ends, space travel gains more popularity, and therefore the demand for it on Earth will shift to the right. The cycle consists of the related markets on one planet gaining more resources with the related markets on the other planet. This process continues until the Auto-sustainability point is reached. The changes described are represented on the graph of Figure …show more content…
Once these changes take place, the first humans will be able to go to Mars at an affordable price and they will need to start setting up the first base industries in Mars. If these industries are successful, a positive feedback cycle will initiate and resource entry will occur both in the Mars markets and in the Earth’s aerospace market. Terraforming will make Mars habitable and the scientific discoveries made on the red planet will lead to breakthroughs on Earth’s industries. Once the base industries are well established, industries like entertainment will begin to flourish. Mars colonization will make expansion to all the solar system possible and each new colonization should lead to a process with stages similar to the ones previously