Well… short term no it’s not necessary (although as other folks have said on the thread it does give some technology advancements, and gives humanity a warm fuzzy sense of achievement)
Long term, it depends on the eval criteria
- If we want the human race to live as long as possible, then I would say yes - to diversify, distribute and minimise the risk of planetary (Earth) failure
- If we don’t give a toss about the human race then no, the Universe will be just fine without us
Competition (& ranking) is great. Competition over every little thing is bad.