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Five groups making private space flight a reality

From space tourism to cargo trips to human trips to Mars, these are five key players with the capital, determination, and vision to shape the new path to the final frontier. 

5. NASA

NASA, ESA, H. Teplitz and M. Rafelski (IPAC/Caltech), A. Koekemoer (STScI), R. Windhorst (Arizona State University), and Z. Levay (STScI)
This image by the Hubble Space Telescope is the most comprehensive view yet of the universe's evolution as seen by a space telescope. The colorful image, released June 3, 2014, contains 10,000 galaxies, with the different colors denoting different wavelengths.

The classic player of the space game is very much active in shaping the new, privatized landscape of space travel and exploration. Although NASA is part of the US government, the agency recognizes the need to work with and fund private companies to remain competitive in the 21st century space age. In addition to its intentions to launch private “space taxis” by 2017 and contracts to such companies as SpaceX and Orbital Sciences to transport cargo to the International Space Station, NASA requested $848 million for a commercial crew program in the 2015 White House budget proposal. 

NASA explains on its website that “commercial space transportation is a vital component to the future of human space exploration. As NASA charts a new course to send humans deeper into space than ever before, we are stimulating efforts within the private sector to develop and operate safe, reliable and affordable commercial space transportation systems.” 

While private billionaires and entrepreneurs are pivotal in ferrying space cargo and envisioning human trips to the red planet, those have long been provinces of NASA, and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. Skeptics may scoff at the high price tag of such ventures as the International Space Station, which to date has cost the US roughly $100 billion and has been extended until at least 2024. But NASA scientists aboard the ISS are hard at work conducting research to advance the US space program and aid in possible future missions to asteroids and to Mars.

The agency, which has been called “middle-aged” and has long contended with budget issues, is working alongside the youngest and most ambitious upstarts in the new space race, with the ultimate goal of sending humans beyond Earth’s orbit. 

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Mark Sappenfield
Editor

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