So you can have the technology that allows you to comment here (Starlink), or drive home from work (GPS), or cure cancer (various ISS research), or survive as a species, or mine space rocks so we don't fight nor pollute land for some scarce resource, or inspire children to dream big, materials science, water purification/generation, satellite communication, faster travel, physics, and a few more.
> So you can have the technology that allows you to comment here (Starlink),
People have been posting on chat / message boards for a few decades now. This is not novel. Not sure the quality of discussion has improved since the modem days (14.4k was my first).
> or drive home from work (GPS)
Tens of millions of us learned how to read maps and road signs once upon a time. You can actually fit several states' worth of maps into most car glove compartments, it is quite wild.
> or cure cancer (various ISS research)
There has been lots of cheering of all the cuts that DOGE made, including cancer and other disease related research and prevention, so this seems a rather moot point.
> survive as a species
Oh yes! First crewed mission to mars according to Musk is just what, 3 years away now?
I don't think being able to comment here is that valuable, GPS is fine but so were maps, curing cancer won't save anyone from dying anyway, surviving as a species is useless for an individual, mining space rocks won't stop fighting or polluting, I don't see how any of this would inspire children, etc etc. The answer should be obvious and easy to muster, instead we have to dig hard to come up with vague possibilities. That should tell you something.
I'm a bit sad that this question is downvoted, because it's a valid question, even if a bit pointed.
First, we don't really know what's there. Because the entirety of the rest of the world is there, and that's a lot!
Second, it's also a bit of a cold war-like thing. A kind of power can be asserted from space. This power can be used for military purposes (just like any other power), and the possibility of this power is real, so, existing, capable powers must ensure that they don't lose their power to the power coming from this new territory. So basically, defense is another purpose.
Third, research doesn't often have an immediate commercial or welfare goal attached to it. Simply because we don't know what we'll find, and how that'll be useful. In this way, one could argue that research is pointless, but I think that would lead to the pointlessness of life itself, philosophically.
Fourth, successful space missions elevate morale, by providing inspiration. It's also a tool for diplomacy, a way to connect nations via a joint effort.
Except for point 2 these are cliches. Thanks to science we pretty much know what's in space and it's not very interesting. So sure, we'll put weapons up there as "defence". But that's not very interesting is it?
