For what feels like an eternity, humanity has always been obsessive about space and its exploration. Expressed in all forms of literature and imaginative works, this fantasy has never been irrelevant since its creation. However, in recent decades, this practical side to this fantasy has been very quiet. I am referring to the companies and countries who fund this exploration, with rockets, rovers, and such. The rate of progress in space technology is undeniably slowing down, and this is because of an inherent trait in our society today: the search for profit.

Space-related advancements are minimal today compared to humanity’s potential speed. Escape velocity, meaning to entirely escape Earth's gravity was achieved in 1959. Mere months later, a USSR spacecraft impacted the moon. In just another two years from that, rockets were made safe for humans. After numerous controlled flybys to Mars and Venus, the famous moon landing occurred in just eight more years. This means that from being able to merely escape gravity, only a decade was needed for a return trip to the Moon. However, seemingly mysteriously, scientific advancements quickly slowed after that. After the expected soft landings on Mars in 1971, everything went quiet beyond the occasional photo and orbit from existing satellites. To this day, the most concrete, non-speculative news we have about the progress of space exploration is the rovers on Mars, which supposedly bring back valuable information, but nobody seems to know what this information can be used for.

This can be explained by analyzing the political situation here on Earth. Countries only make advancements in space when they have profit to be made from it. The V-2 rocket, the first rocket to ever go to space, was born from Germany’s desperation at the end of the Second World War. This exact rocket design, designed within the 5 years of the war by a country who was pouring their entire budget into war, was then stolen by the US and the Soviet Union to form the base of their own rocket designs for the next few decades. In this situation, Germany had everything to gain through completion of the V-2 rocket, as it was their “miracle weapon” that could win them the war.

Following the defeat of Germany, the space scene went quiet. It was only when the Cold War was beginning to take form that space research continued. In the US, the public knew space exploration as “Manifest Destiny”, which means that they felt that as Americans with their roots in exploration of the frontiers, space was the next logical frontier they would be destined to take control of. However, the actual government’s motivations were not as idealistic. The US army and the CIA saw the military potential of being able to carry out espionage and bombardment from space, as well as defend against any incoming missiles. They played a major part in funding and developing the US space campaign. The Soviet Union was also propelled by the same military-based motivations as the US, and they had another motivation in the form of wanting to prove the superiority of Communism. Both countries had rampant nationalism and the desire for military power to fulfill, and the way they both looked was into space. 

After the moon was landed upon by humans, both countries eased out of the space race. Their motives were gone. In the Soviet Union, their economic decline was much more of a pressing issue than losing the space race. Their people’s morale had also gone down, and space was seen as more of a waste of money that could have fed the people. In the US, “Manifest Destiny” was satisfied, and the military did not need to worry as much about the USSR, since the conflict was receding and the USSR gradually falling apart.

As seen from the examples, two conditions are historically necessary for space technology to make significant progress: Nationalism and desire from the people, and possible military potential seen by the government. This is because space exploration is costly. And unlike other costly things, it doesn’t return a profit most of the time. The only benefit a country has ever received from space exploration is public opinion, aside from intercontinental missiles that use roughly the same technology.

Therefore, a country who is already struggling with internal matters would not spend any money on space exploration due to the low reward and high risk. Establishing bases on other planets may seem tempting, but throwing funds that could be used for more direct things at developing technologies that may not return a profit for many decades and may not even remain yours isn’t the greatest idea. The exponential development during the Cold War was out of necessity, not curiosity. Curiosity alone is never enough to fuel technological advancement. 

To put things into perspective, NASA’s budget was 4.6% of the federal budget in the Cold War’s peak. By 1976 as the Cold War was waning, NASA’s budget dropped to 1%. A steady decrease has happened all the way to 2023 today, resulting in funding below 0.4% of the federal budget. It is no surprise that space advancement is halting. Frankly, NASA is pretty much the only player in this field, leaps and bounds away from everyone else. Even SpaceX is funded mostly by the US anyways, so it’s included in consideration. Humanity’s future in space and how quickly it comes is entirely dependent on how much money the US government decides to spend on NASA. With a tenfold decrease in budget comes a tenfold decrease in advancement. It’s just math. Right now, the people of America are more worried about politics and crime than going to space, which makes sense considering their situation.

Nationalism causes an individual to be prepared to sacrifice their living standards for the good of their country, and it is something the US does not have right now. Their internal affairs are too pressing. Therefore, space exploration has to be put on hold, as it has not garnered public interest or provided any strategic and urgent benefit to the United States. The James Webb Telescope is being touted as the greatest product of the twenty-first century, but in reality it’s just a big camera that takes exceptionally pretty pictures. Knowledge about stars light-years away does us no good if we aren’t to reach them.

So what could possibly revitalize the speed of space-related technological development? The main possibility is that NASA makes a breakthrough with the extremely limited funding that it has, and it’s a breakthrough that is related to gaining profit. The US isn’t worried about military strength so a Cold War situation couldn’t come back up, as it’s absolutely the dominant superpower in that regard right now especially with the annihilation of the fear towards Russia. The only reward that could interest them is money. I don’t pretend to know how technology is going to develop, but the colonization of a planet seems to have a low profit return considering there are little to no natural resources found and nothing to grow on the soil. Potentially mining a precious resource from a planet or an asteroid is most likely the attention-grabber, but the technology required seems many decades off. No matter the case, it seems that space exploration will continue at a snail’s place for decades to come.

Countries are poised to chase profit, and space exploration doesn’t come with profit. A monumental task that is so technologically demanding isn’t something that a small group with some ideals can take on, and yet the countries are too busy with internal economics to care. Greed took us forward, and now its absence blocks our path.