Interstellar commerce

[julius2]

Hopefully this "analysis" is thorough enough to be classed as science :

Looking at the practicalities of existing / trading in space.

Take a standard mode of transportation - a star cruiser (space ship) - in a space environment.

Would the star cruiser be owned by a corporation? What would be the cost of such a star cruiser? Where would you buy the star cruiser? You would assume there are a number of suppliers? In an intergalactic star system suppliers may even be spread across multiple planets?

Parts

I would assume there would be different parts for different makes / models of the star cruiser. Would there be a marketplace for these parts? How would this be run? On a kind of internet? Would there be a "stock exchange" on various planets?

Maintenance crew

Function - they would maintain the star cruiser engine / pipes / computers / navigation

Practicality - how would this crew be fed? What would happen to the waste product? Would it just be dumped in space?

Complexities of having a maintenance crew. Presumably some would have families (just like here on Earth). How often would they visit their family? How long are their trips away? Would they be able to communicate with their families? Would there be various interstellar "souvenirs" people could give to their families from their trips away?

 

With multiple habitable planets and feasible space travel possible, everything is 10 fold bigger.

The problem is our "space environment". We are stuck with our "environment".

Would there be a future time when intergalactic is possible? Or has one existed previously? This would all depend on the mechanics of the Big Bang??

[zapatos]

13 minutes ago, julius2 said:

Hopefully this "analysis" is thorough enough to be classed as science :

 

I'm afraid not.

[exchemist]

25 minutes ago, julius2 said:

Hopefully this "analysis" is thorough enough to be classed as science :

Looking at the practicalities of existing / trading in space.

Take a standard mode of transportation - a star cruiser (space ship) - in a space environment.

Would the star cruiser be owned by a corporation? What would be the cost of such a star cruiser? Where would you buy the star cruiser? You would assume there are a number of suppliers? In an intergalactic star system suppliers may even be spread across multiple planets?

Parts

I would assume there would be different parts for different makes / models of the star cruiser. Would there be a marketplace for these parts? How would this be run? On a kind of internet? Would there be a "stock exchange" on various planets?

Maintenance crew

Function - they would maintain the star cruiser engine / pipes / computers / navigation

Practicality - how would this crew be fed? What would happen to the waste product? Would it just be dumped in space?

Complexities of having a maintenance crew. Presumably some would have families (just like here on Earth). How often would they visit their family? How long are their trips away? Would they be able to communicate with their families? Would there be various interstellar "souvenirs" people could give to their families from their trips away?

 

With multiple habitable planets and feasible space travel possible, everything is 10 fold bigger.

The problem is our "space environment". We are stuck with our "environment".

Would there be a future time when intergalactic is possible? Or has one existed previously? This would all depend on the mechanics of the Big Bang??

Why would you need people at all, on board?

[pzkpfw]

My WAG is that the cost of building, maintaining, and running interstellar trade would be more than the cost of just producing the goods locally.

If wine from Zebulon 7 is $1,000,000 per glass but a bottle of local plonk is $10, what's the point? And I'd bet that technology for exact replication of Zebulon 7 wine would be developed before interstellar trade anyway.

You'd need to postulate some (vital, not just luxury) commodity that just can't be sourced locally, for this trade to make sense.

(Given the limits of lower than light speed travel and communication, I think human expansion (if any) beyond the solar system will largely be one-way.)

Edited December 28, 2024 by pzkpfw
typos

[swansont]

19 minutes ago, pzkpfw said:

You'd need to postulate some (vital, not just luxury) commodity that just can't be sourced locally, for this trade to make sense.

 

Exactly. And something that can’t be sourced in the 100+ years it takes to get to market. Nothing like investing a fortune only to have the bottom drop out of the market before your ship (or your descendants’) delivers because you found a local asteroid that’s rich in mithril. Interstellar law will be interesting, settling all of the bankruptcy claims from companies going belly-up while there’s cargo in transit. Futures trading in the commodities markets, too.

The one advantage for importing/exporting Zebulon 7 wine is that will age enroute. 

[Ken Fabian]

There is a limit to wine aging resulting in improvement. After that it gets worse. But perhaps Zebulon wine is different.

I'm still struggling to see how trade between the moon or Mars and Earth could be economically viable. The usual solution is imaginary technology, and the "sure" way to get it is positing endless, inevitable technological progress and enough time. For things that are that far beyond us I just can't sustain that level of optimism in inevitability.

Edited December 29, 2024 by Ken Fabian