Rocket launches are expensive. Even with huge price drops from SpaceX and other New Space companies, there’s no cheap way to get stuff down here in Earth’s gravity well up to low Earth orbit. In order to really survive and thrive in space, we’ve got to learn to live off the land, to acquire the resources in space that will allow us to survive… in space. We’ve got to learn to turn those raw materials into forms we need: fuel, breathable air, water, construction materials, and eventually even finished goods like rocket parts and electronics.