In the past, space travel and exploration in the United States have been primarily done by government entities like NASA. While some of the work was contracted out to private companies including Boeing and Lockheed Martin, the logo painted on the side of the rocket still read “NASA”.
But now, many private space exploration and travel companies have formed and are seeing varying levels of success. Companies like Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin and SpaceX, founded by billionaires Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk respectively, are leading the way in this new-age space race.
Virgin Galactic is focused on space tourism, selling flights in their VSS Unity spacecraft for $450,000 per person. On the other hand, SpaceX and Blue Origin are more focused on space exploration. Both companies are working on developing new rockets to propel humans farther into space more efficiently. Despite the varying goals of the companies, the concept is the same: privately developed spacecraft.
“I think the rapid growth in privately owned space exploration companies like SpaceX has great benefits for both the space exploration world and the world as a whole,” said aerospace major Tanish Chauhan.
While these companies are owned and operated privately, they are still closely linked to the government. The United States government regularly contracts SpaceX to carry astronauts and equipment to space. Even though Virgin Galactic is more focused on space tourism, they also work with government agencies. Their first commercial flight on June 29, 2023 carried a group of Italian Air Force members who conducted research from the VSS Unity.
“I think space exploration is great and important for humanity, and I think that space tourism may be a good way to fund further research and development of space exploration technologies and programs, especially when it costs almost half a million dollars per ticket for space tourism,” said PV senior Zack Alkhafaji.
In many ways, the private space industry has been much more successful than the government led industry, as evidenced by NASA choosing to use SpaceX rockets to fly their missions. NASA still develops new technology on its own, but the increasing presence of private industries in the world of space exploration and tourism is undeniable.
