Grounding innovation? — VOICES for REASON

In a recent series of posts I discussed how increased government control over health care in America would devastate the medical technology industry and stifle innovation. But the negative effect that government interference has on innovation is true for any industry. From cookware to computers, men will only invest time, money and thought on developing new products if they project the payoff to be worth it. The more the success of a potential product is subject to the dictates of Washington bureaucrats, the less likely that potentiality will be made real. The more regulatory hurdles one has to overcome to achieve a dream, the less likely one will make the effort to overcome them.

This past Monday bore witness to the achievements possible to man when he is left free. In a hangar in the Mojave desert, Sir Richard Branson and his team at Virgin Galactic lifted the veil off Space Ship Two, the world’s first commercial spacecraft. Space Ship Two will take passengers to a height of 68 miles above Earth, well beyond the recognized border of space. It is one of a number of private spacecraft being developed in the nascent space tourism industry, which will make it possible for private citizens to experience wonders previously reserved for government astronauts.

What kinds of restrictions are in place for space tourism? Compared to other industries, relatively few so far. The government considers space tourism distinct from airline travel, which leaves the companies developing these spacecraft free from many of the onerous federal taxes and regulations that have hampered the airline industry since the 1930s. The individuals driving space tourism have been able to pursue their dreams without excessive interference—and they’re beginning to achieve them.

That freedom may not last. The federal rules governing space tourism are up for review in 2012. Should the government stay out, the possibilities are limitless. Tickets that are now priced at the level of a small house may one day drop to the level of a month’s rent, and our children may experience space travel as we experience flying. Mr. Branson already has visions of suborbital transcontinental travel—on the order of Los Angeles to Australia, in two hours.

Mr. Branson is well aware of one major threat to his transforming that vision into reality. The man who built his own spaceship does not qualify his dreams for future development with “subject to advances in technology” or “subject to capital investment.” He qualifies them with “subject to American government permission.”

Photo: alwright1 on Flickr