Today's rockets are far too expensive and inefficient for large scale space colonization. Major problems are:
1. A lot of rocket fuel is used for launching more fuel into space, making fuel absurdly expensive.
2. Conventional rockets can only be used once, and space shuttles require expensive repairs and controls to be re-used.
The result of those problems combined is that each launch costs almost the payload's weight in gold. A better launch must solve both those problems. Only then can space travel be affordable to a general public.
Better launches should also be safer than chemical rockets. That should be easy, for with all that combustible fuel, a chemical rocket is difficult. Almost any other type of launch would be MUCH safer. (citation needed)
One solution is burning rubber.
One-issue party would be for financing the research on this.