Twenty-nineteen is shaping up to be a pivotal year for the modern-day, billionaire-fuelled Space Race in the private spaceflight industry , known as “NewSpace”. With emerging private companies taking huge strides in space travel technologies, there could soon be a dynamic shift where space travel is no longer just for a handful of nations but for anybody. This modern-day Space Race is also fuelling other firms who are focused on improving small scale launchers for satellites. These smaller players could also have an immense impact on our everyday lives, increasing our connectivity and further globalising the world. Twenty-nineteen is an exciting time for all things space.
To appreciate the current Space Race we are apart of, it is important to understand where it began. The first Space Race was a competition between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1950’s where both sides declared their intention to launch satellites in the near future. The Space Race peaked when the US lead Apollo 11 landed two astronauts on the moon. Although it is difficult to identify when the Space Race ended, it is largely agreed that this occurred after the Soviet Union dissolved and US and Russian spaceflight cooperation flourished. At that time, it was almost unimaginable to be able to travel into outer space and the idea of space tourism was considered laughable. This however changed in 2001 when Dennis Anthony Titto, famously known as the first space tourist, spent eight days in orbit aboard the International Space Station. It is believed Titto paid nearly $20 million to the Russian Space Program to slip through the bounds of Earth.
Much has changed since 2001 and on the horizon appears to be more affordable and attainable space travel, tourism and commercial opportunities for all. Currently, eccentric billionaires such as Tesla’s Elon Musk, Virgin’s Richard Branson and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos are on a collision course as their companies SpaceX, Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin all compete in the commercial space industry. While all three companies have similar goals, all have different approaches and visions for getting there.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX appears to be leading the pack and has had a momentous 2018, flying 21 times to space. SpaceX’s achievements include being the first to ever reuse an orbital rocket (traditionally many components are left to fall into the ocean), the first private company to launch, orbit and recover a spacecraft and the first private company to launch an object (Elon Musk’s very own, cherry red Tesla convertible) into orbit around the sun. Perhaps most notably is SpaceX’s partnership with NASA. So far, the company has flown 16 resupply missions to the International Space Station and is currently developing a new type of their Dragon spacecrafts for NASA to use to transport astronauts to and from the International Space Station. Musk’s SpaceX also has plans of Space Tourism, with the Big Falcon Rocket scheduled to make a trip around the moon in 2023 and intended to take paying customers. One of the first customers will be Japanese Billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, who plans on taking six to eight creative artists to inspire them and their works.
Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin are also major players in the modern space race. Late last year, Virgin Galactic made headlines with their successful flight of SpaceShipTwo. This travelled more than 80 kilometres in altitude, surpassing what is widely recognised as the edge of space, high enough for pilots Mark Stucky and Fredrick Sturckow to experience weightlessness and see Earth’s curvature. Shortly after the successful launch Branson stated he hopes to fly sometime in 2019 after which he will send some of the many ticket holders who purchased in advance. Similarly, Bezos’ Blue Origin also plans to send paying customers on sub-orbital flights in 2019. Blue Origin’s New Shepard Rocket flew twice last year, exceeding an altitude of 100km, however it has not carried human passengers as of yet. Tickets for either companies flights are expected to be in the $250,000 USD mark.
While the billionaire-funded private firms may be focused on big and powerful rockets, a second race is also taking place against smaller players who are developing more efficient launchers for satellites. Satellite technology is a very important part of our lives, we use it to scroll through our feeds, watch our favourite movies on Netflix and even plan our next move on the battlefield. With more cost effective and efficient means of satellite launch into low Earth orbit, internet can become accessible in remote places, allowing for more people to have a voice and a more globalised and interconnected world. This is exactly what OneWeb, a company supported by major companies like Virgin, Airbus and Qualcomm, envisions. Other major players in this section of the Space Race include Rocket Lab, a New Zealand based company and Virgin Orbit.
With the modern-day Space Race we are all a part of, it will be exciting to see where these companies end up and what is made possible. No longer will space be a distant fantasy but rather a more attainable reality.
