There are manufacturing facilities in space, creating new materials that are used for businesses on Earth that we couldn't imagine 30 years ago. Orbiting biomedical labs make stunning contributions to the medical and pharmaceutical industries. Commercial communications and remote sensing services make a healthy profit while improving our quality of life. Air traffic control is space-based. Our national security is assured by space-based assets.
Space tourism is affordable.
Importantly, government represents only a small fraction of the total space enterprise. Although this is still a vision, already we can see the beginnings of how it will become reality. We have come so far from the early days of the space program when it was just another front in the Cold War. The only players were the Soviet Union and the United States, and the race was to the Moon. Today, space is a vital part of our national security infrastructure.