Hello, and welcome back to our "Life in 2050" series. In our other installments, we explored how the world ofwarfare, economics, and life at home could drastically change by mid-century. In the previous installment, we began to look at how space exploration and commercial space activities would be changing as well.
This includes the commercialization of Low Earth Orbit (LEO), orbital gateway stations, bases on the Moon, asteroid mining, and the industrialization of the Earth-Moon system. However, humanity's future in space reaches far beyond that and could include missions to Mars, the outer solar system, and telescopes observing the earliest moments of the universe.
Exploration will also be mirrored in terms of commercial exploitation and (perhaps) even the creation of settlements on other planets. Between the Moon, Mars, the main asteroid belt, and the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, there are many tantalizing locations where humans could establish self-sustaining cities that would allow for further expansion and exploration.
We may even find life in our own cosmic backyard and explore the closest stars to our Sun. With any luck, we may also obtain the first definitive evidence that there is life beyond our solar system, and perhaps see that it is looking back at us. All this and more is expected to become a reality by 2050 - or, at least, to be well on its way to becoming a reality.
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