HackingTheUniverse

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Governments are organized for the purpose of common defense and the well being of the group. In a nomadic tribe, there is little to defend in the way of territory, structures or possessions, so the form of government is usually minimal and often casual. The tribe can simply pick up and move on [...]

Commerce in space will be driven by the demands of exchange and the economic factors involved.
Raw Materials:
Air and water are likely to be in high demand and even if they become somewhat abundant, will always remain treasured for their inherent importance. Food will be mostly manufactured locally, assuming you have the raw [...]

Space vehicles that are designed primarily for space travel alone will be unlike craft that are designed for navigating in an atmosphere. There is no need to consider aerodynamics in space or stress related to strong gravitational fields. Instead, they need to have strong hull integrity and if they are designed to rotate [...]

Before attempting to predict how commerce will occur in space or how government will be designed to regulate it, it is important to understand how the basic economic factors will be changed.

Comparison of Economic Elements

On Earth
ELEMENT
In Space

free
AIR
expensive

cheap
WATER
expensive

moderate
FOOD
moderate

expensive
ENERGY
cheap

expensive
TERRITORY
free

expensive
BUILDING MATERIAL
cheap

expensive
SHELTER
cheap

expensive
TRANSPORT
cheap

local-fast
COMMUNICATIONS
nonlocal-slow

Even though air and water may be available in abundant supply (in the asteroids and on moons) it [...]

In space, the dividing line between what is considered to be a habitat and what is considered to be a vehicle will become hazy. Large habitat-like structures can be put into orbits that offer transport from one place to another and from one orbit to another. A habitat placed in an orbit that goes from [...]