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Thinking Economically about Space Shuttles

What would the economic effects be upon the United States government for the end of the space shuttle program? Billions of dollars of taxpayer money have funded the program, and those who are not keen on American exploration of space might be happy to see their tax dollars go to something else. However, they shouldn?t get too comfortable, because with plans for a new space vehicle and a Mars mission in the works, those billions are likely to fuel America?s quest to remain at the pinnacle of human achievement in space for some time to come.

For sure, though, the United States might suffer economically from the end of the shuttle program. A whole industry revolves around the space shuttle program, and should NASA decide to scrub the program as a whole earlier than the target date of 2010, many people might be out of a job. For Florida, this would seemingly be bad. However, there are still other missions that NASA is aiming to complete, and the numerous launches would likely keep NASA employees there busy for a while.

However, the possibility is still there that the shuttle program, with care, could last until 2010 or at least 2008. Another disaster, though, or the loss of another shuttle either in space, during launch, or on re-entry would likely spell the end for the space shuttle program.