Oh God no! NASA should be eliminated and space exploration privatized. The government monopoly on space travel needs to be ended. NASA is a government backed monopoly which stifles scientific and technological advancement. For example, in 1987 and 1988, a Commerce Department-led working group considered the feasibility of offering a one-time prize and a promise of rent to any firm or consortium that could deliver a permanent manned moon base. Several private sector firms said that it could be done if NASA was not involved. Immediately NASA claimed that a moon base was not feasible and the idea was scuttled. This is not progress or scientific thinking.
There is a great market for privatized space exploration and study despite the fact that it seems out of Jules Verne. NASA refused to work when the government shutdown occurred in 2013. Thus, it appears the future can be put on hold if it is government run. While NASA scientists threw a fit about the shutdown a private company launched a rocket. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Dragon spacecraft launched without a dime from the government. NASA demanded more money while the private sector simply did its job. While the private companies did benefit from prior NASA technology the fact that they could build a rocket themselves and launch it is a testament to the market for privatized space travel.
As long as NASA dominates civilian space efforts, little progress will be made toward inexpensive manned space travel.
But space exploration is privatized. You just gave a great example of the burgeoning private spaceflight industry. SpaceX, Virgin Galactic and the others are making fascinating inroads. Now give a concrete example of how NASA is stifling them. The fact that the ISS exists has nothing to do with why there aren't any private space stations. There aren't any private space stations because constructing one would be really, really expensive and no private corporation has yet seen fit to spend the money because there isn't an obvious business application that would justify the cost.
Going to the moon. Putting a full-time manned laboratory in orbit. The Hubble telescope. Mars rovers. While all great advances in science and technology and the development of the human race in general, none of these things were exactly profitable. It's great that private spaceflight is finally advancing, but for the foreseeable future those companies' efforts will be focused on suborbital and eventually orbital flight. We still need NASA to do the actual exploring.
That being said, NASA's mission needs to be redefined, especially with regards to the manned spaceflight component. If we're going to ask astronauts to put their lives at extreme risk, it should at least be in pursuit of a real goal. Let's go someplace cool again.
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