Space colonization becoming economically recoverable

One of the big problems by manned space exploration and colonization, that it's insanely expensive. Building a colony on other celestial bodies - since it's impractical to bring back the acquired resources to Earth - is surely a lossmaking enterprise, and therefore must be funded from the profit of other activities.

But it seems to me, that if there would be enough humans living on other bodies and in space habitats, it would become profitable to construct new, more safe and comfortable hab modules, develop new hydroponics technology, establish new mining settlements on new asteroids, build fast internet to the Jovian moons, etc... since those, who are already in space would be willing to pay for these services and goods.

Eventually, it could come to pass, that the majority of the investments would go into extraterrestrial investments, making Earth into a uncool rust belt, and encouraging even more people to migrate into space, making the colonization of the solar system into a self generating process?

Where is this critical point? How much human presence in the space would be needed (How many humans, how much dollar worth infrastructure... ) in order to make supplying them a profitable undertaking?

Conditions: Fission, fusion, and electric engines exist. (were used in early colonization efforts.) There is no significant antimatter technology, and no gravity manipulation. Nanostructure materials (like carbon nanotubes) are permitted, but nanobots not. The economic environment on the Earth is not bad.

Edit: The cost of bringing them there doesn't matter, the scenario only has to be economical after the critical point is reached. So the question is not: Why would we need sending X men to Moon, Mars, Calisto, Titan...?, But how many many men should be there, to make the expanding and further developing their colonies into a good business?

posted over 7 years ago

b.Lorenz‭

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