20. Implausible, Yet Intriguing: Business in the Outer Solar System

The possibilities of future business opportunities that might exist within the outer solar system are explored. Fictional accounts of development within space are used to provide context between imagined paths of exploration and what is more likely within the foreseeable future. Additional observations as to the nature and extent of how business might develop are discussed. Although business creation within the realm of the outer solar system is likely to remain a distant possibility, it is not without terrestrial precedents. It is also probable that business opportunities would occur at a pace faster than expected if either the resources discovered among the planets and moons proved to be of greater value than anticipated or if technology made exploitation less difficult and more cost effective. It is not if but when and how the resources of the outer solar system will be utilized in the future. In the near-term, business among the outer solar system will continue to be implausible until both opportunity and technology change significantly and catch up with the intriguing vision set forth by science fiction and business visionaries.