[colordrops]

> And unlike launching commercial satellites, nobody is going to be interested in dropping a few billion dollars on a biosphere R&D startup.

Yes, no one is going to fund this until it looks like sustainable transport to Mars is feasible, which makes transport the priority at the moment.

[vkou]

Nobody is going to fund it after sustainable transport to Mars is feasible, either. Because there is no path from 'spend billions of dollars on this' to 'make your investment back'.