Editing Space colonization (section)

===Economics===
{{Main|Space-based economy}}
Space colonization can roughly be said to be possible when the necessary methods of space colonization become [[Economic behavior|cheap enough]] (such as space access by cheaper launch systems) to meet the cumulative funds that have been gathered for the purpose, in addition to estimated profits from [[commercial use of space]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Space Settlement Basics |first=Al |last=Globus |website=National Space Society |url=https://www.nss.org/settlement/nasa/Basics/wwwwh.html |access-date=19 April 2025}}</ref>

====Overcoming access-to-space barriers====
Although there are no immediate prospects for the large amounts of money required for space colonization to be available given traditional launch costs,<ref>[http://settlement.arc.nasa.gov/Basics/wwwwh.html Space Settlement Basics] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120706031203/http://settlement.arc.nasa.gov/basics/wwwwh.html |date=6 July 2012 }} by Al Globus, NASA Ames Research Center. Last Updated: 2 February 2012</ref> there is some prospect of a radical reduction to launch costs in the 2010s, which would consequently lessen the cost of any efforts in that direction. With a published price of {{USD|56.5}}{{nbsp}}million per launch of up to {{convert|13150|kg|abbr=on}} payload<ref name=sxCapabilitiesSvcs20131211>{{cite web |title=SpaceX Capabilities and Services |url=http://www.spacex.com/about/capabilities |year=2013<!-- copyright date; no other date provided --> |publisher=SpaceX |access-date=11 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131007205105/http://www.spacex.com/about/capabilities |archive-date=7 October 2013 |url-status=dead }} <!-- SpaceX refers to these prices as the "PAID IN FULL STANDARD LAUNCH PRICES (2013)" --></ref> to low Earth orbit, [[SpaceX]] [[Falcon 9]] rockets are already the "cheapest in the industry".<ref name=fp20131209/> Advancements currently being developed as part of the [[SpaceX reusable launch system development program]] to enable reusable Falcon 9s "could drop the price by an order of magnitude, sparking more space-based enterprise, which in turn would drop the cost of access to space still further through economies of scale."<ref name=fp20131209>{{cite news |last=Belfiore |first=Michael |title=The Rocketeer |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/12/02/the_rocketeer_elon_musk |access-date=11 December 2013 |newspaper=Foreign Policy |date=9 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131210233009/http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/12/02/the_rocketeer_elon_musk |archive-date=10 December 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> If SpaceX is successful in developing the reusable technology, it would be expected to "have a major impact on the cost of access to space", and change the increasingly [[competition (economics)|competitive market]] in space launch services.<ref name="bbc20130930">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24331860 |title=Recycled rockets: SpaceX calls time on expendable launch vehicles |work=BBC News |last=Amos |first=Jonathan |date=30 September 2013 |access-date=2 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131003085420/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24331860 |archive-date=3 October 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[President's Commission on Implementation of United States Space Exploration Policy]] suggested that an [[Inducement prize contest|inducement prize]] should be established, perhaps by government, for the achievement of space colonization, for example by offering the prize to the first organization to place humans on the Moon and sustain them for a fixed period before they return to Earth.<ref>[http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/60736main_M2M_report_small.pdf A Journey to Inspire, Innovate, and Discover], {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121010151959/http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/60736main_M2M_report_small.pdf|date=10 October 2012}}, Report of the [[President's Commission on Implementation of United States Space Exploration Policy]], June 2004.</ref>

==== Money and currency ====
Experts have debated on the possible use of money and currencies in societies that will be established in space. The Quasi Universal Intergalactic Denomination, or QUID, is a physical currency made from a space-qualified polymer [[Polytetrafluoroethylene|PTFE]] for inter-planetary travelers. QUID was designed for the foreign exchange company Travelex by scientists from Britain's National Space Centre and the University of Leicester.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.space.com/4454-scientists-design-space-currency.html|title=Scientists Design New Space Currency|last=Christensen|first=Bill|date=10 October 2007|website=Space.com|access-date=21 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190121232640/https://www.space.com/4454-scientists-design-space-currency.html|archive-date=21 January 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Other possibilities include the incorporation of [[cryptocurrency]] as the primary form of currency, as suggested by [[Elon Musk]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Delbert|first=Caroline|date=29 December 2020|title=Elon Musk Says Mars Settlers Will Use Cryptocurrency, Like 'Marscoin'|url=https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/moon-mars/a35085273/elon-musk-says-mars-settlers-will-use-cryptocurrency-like-marscoin/|access-date=24 February 2021|website=Popular Mechanics|language=en-US}}</ref>

====Socio-economic issues ====
[[Human spaceflight]] has enabled only temporarily relocating a few privileged people and no permanent space migrants.

The societal motivation for space migration has been questioned as rooted in colonialism, questioning the fundamentals and inclusivity of space colonization. Highlighting the need to reflect on such socio-economic issues beside the technical challenges for implementation.<ref name="m794">{{cite journal | last=Shaw | first=Debra Benita | title=The Way Home: Space Migration and Disorientation | journal=New Formations: A Journal of Culture/Theory/Politics | publisher=Lawrence & Wishart | volume=107 | issue=107 | date=15 February 2023 | issn=1741-0789 | pages=118–138 | doi=10.3898/NewF:107-8.07.2022 | url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/881496 | access-date=14 May 2024 }}</ref><ref name="l879">{{cite journal | last=Klass | first=Morton | title=Recruiting new "huddled masses" and "wretched refuse": a prolegomenon to the human colonization of space | journal=Futures | publisher=Elsevier BV | volume=32 | issue=8 | year=2000 | issn=0016-3287 | doi=10.1016/s0016-3287(00)00024-0 | pages=739–748}}</ref>