58% Said There’s No Way They Would Consider Taking A Commercial SpaceX Flight

Given the results of the Pew Research survey we linked earlier, it does seem like people generally aren’t all that comfortable with the idea of going to space — even if the zeitgeist makes space seem like a desirable destination in the future. Granted, the whole point of SpaceX is to make commercial spaceflight both desirable and affordable, neither of which are currently applicable to any form of spaceflight. We can’t blame the general public here, considering the prevalence of failed SpaceX rocket launches circulating around social media.

Among the 620 respondents surveyed, exactly 57.74%, or around 358 of them, voted to stay on solid ground if given the opportunity to take a SpaceX flight into the Earth’s orbit. The survey was randomly selected, which is why it’s interesting to compare it with the Pew Research survey a few years prior, which saw similar results, albeit with much broader criteria (and possibly a larger sample size, meaning it was likely even more reflective of the general population).

Say what you will about SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who is currently entangled with a whole separate dilemma surrounding his pending albeit shaky acquisition of social media platform Twitter. Musk is evidently putting a lot of effort into making SpaceX succeed, and the company does supply plenty of equipment to NASA’s critical operations. Whether or not the civilian spaceflight gamble pays off, however, ultimately depends on whether or not the company can succeed at building a foolproof rocket.