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Patrick, it's very difficult to say what people's motivations are, and certainly what God's reasoning may be.  All we can say for certain about the Tower is that humans attempting to reach heaven was displeasing to God; we cannot say for certain whether it was displeasing to him because they were attempting to reach the spiritual heaven.  Nor can we say whether everyone involved in the space program has a motivation different from those who built the Tower.  What we can say is that He found a physical attempt to reach the heavens displeasing--and space travel is a physical attempt to reach the heavens.

Patrick, it's very difficult to say what people's motivations are, and certainly what God's reasoning may be.  All we can say for certain about the Tower is that humans attempting to reach heaven was displeasing to God; we cannot say for certain whether it was displeasing to him because they were attempting to reach the spiritual heaven, or whether the physical act of attempting to reach the heavens was offensive in and of itself.  Nor can we say whether everyone involved in the space program has a motivation different from those who built the Tower.  What we can say is that He found a physical attempt to reach the heavens displeasing--and space travel is a physical attempt to reach the heavens. Taken in and of itself, this might be ambiguous, but when coupled with the other verses I pointed out, and with the fact that space is so exceedingly dangerous that exploring even the tiniest bit of it immediately beyond our own planet is fraught with risk?  I think a picture begins to emerge, don't you?

Nor, I think, can you reasonably compare sea exploration, as the sea is part of the dominion explicitly granted to man in the Bible.  Man was given dominion over the fish of the sea, and by extension, over the sea.  By that same token, those who object that travel by airplane would be objectionable to God are not taking the boundaries of the dominion into account.  We are also given dominion over the birds of the air; thus we may conclude that travel through the air, at least as high as birds can fly, is permissible.

Nor, I think, can you reasonably compare sea exploration, as the sea is part of the dominion explicitly granted to man in the Bible.  Man was given dominion over the fish of the sea, and by extension, over the sea.  By that same token, those who object that travel by airplane would be objectionable to God are not taking the boundaries of the dominion into account.  We are also given dominion over the birds of the air; thus we may conclude that travel through the air, at least as high as birds can fly, is permissible.