Q: Would you explain the rationale behind putting large sums of money from governments, rather than from the private sector, into space developments?
Lüst: The first thing to understand is that there is little chance of gaining a quick economic return from space science and technology. To promise otherwise is to misrepresent your aims to the public.
The first justification, I would say, is that public money spent this way increases general scientific understanding in areas such as telecommunications, Earth observation and basic areas of science, where the benefits are for socicty as a whole.
Secondly, investment in projects such as the manned space station are likely to produce a commercial return in areas such as a better understanding of materials and biology processes, but this will be some time in the future.
Thirdly, space projects lead indirectly to technological developments in fields such as electronics and materials, which can ...
