The Space Economy and the Long Space Age

The Long Space Age partial book cover. Credit: Yale University Press

What you think you know about the history of private investment in space is probably all wrong.

My guest today is Alex MacDonald, Senior Economic Advisor in the Office of the Administrator at NASA Headquarters in Washington. I’ll note that Alex is appearing in a personal capacity and not representing NASA in this interview.

The Long Space Age: The Economic Origins of Space Exploration from Colonial America to the Cold War

Alex is recognized as an expert on the economic history of American space exploration and contemporary private sector space activities. He was previously the founding program executive of NASA’s Emerging Space Office and is the author and editor of a number of NASA reports including Emerging Space: The Evolving Landscape of 21st Century American Spaceflight, Public-Private Partnerships for Space Capability Development, and Economic Development of Low-Earth Orbit.

Alex, who is Canadian, received his undergraduate degree in economics from Queen’s University, his master’s degree in economics from the University of British Columbia, and was a Clarendon Scholar at the University of Oxford where he obtained his doctorate on the long-run economic history of American space exploration.

In today’s episode we’ll talk about Alex’s work at NASA as an economist and the book he published last year, The Long Space Age.

You can request the large file version of the infographic, Strategic Geography of the Solar System and Beyond, mentioned in the podcast by Alex by sending him an email at [email protected].

Listen in.

Strategic Geography of the Solar System and Beyond
Strategic Geography of the Solar System and Beyond. Credit: NASA.

Listen to and Subscribe to the Podcast

You can subscribe to the podcast using your favourite podcast app (iOS and Android). For apps like OverCast or Pocket Cast you can search using the podcast title SpaceQ or use the RSS feed URL listed below.

The RSS feed URL is: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:286233381/sounds.rss

The podcast is also available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music and SoundCloud.

About Marc Boucher

Boucher is an entrepreneur, writer, editor & publisher. He is the founder of SpaceQ Media Inc. and CEO and co-founder of SpaceRef Interactive LLC. Boucher has 20+ years working in various roles in the space industry and a total of 30 years as a technology entrepreneur including creating Maple Square, Canada's first internet directory and search engine.

Leave a Reply