Treaties meant to ensure sustainability in space don’t currently regulate private companies, and not every country has signed on to an agreement for sustainable space exploration.
The ‘space economy’ isn’t just rockets and space suits – satellite data, radio and TV are all part of a broadly-defined space economy.
NASA/JPL-Caltech via AP
With commercial space tourism on the rise and NASA planning to return to the Moon, you might think the US space economy is booming – but the data paint a more complex picture.
The Overview Effect describes the transformative impact of seeing Earth from space and feeling profoundly connected to our planet and concerned for it. That’s at odds with the impact of space tourism.
An artist’s impression of the 30,000 or so space debris orbiting around the Earth.
Flickr
With about 200 orbital launches scheduled and ambitious missions on everything from lunar bases to the search for life in the works, there’s a lot to watch in 2022. An astronomer explains the highlights.
Grand ideas of extraterrestrial colonisation are hardly new. In the 1940s, the nascent Space Age set in motion calls for a new wave of colonisation – directed outwards into space.
from www.shutterstock.com
With commercial spaceflight companies now taking older people to space, it’s timely to consider the potential physical impact space flight might have on them.
Four people – none of them trained astronauts – launched into orbit aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule on Sept. 15, 2021.
NASA Johnson/Flickr
The Inspiration4 mission sent four civilians to space for three days. Though still funded by a billionaire, the mission is a step forward in the nascent space tourism industry.
Both Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson successfully rode to space on rockets made by their private companies Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic, respectively.
AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez
Joseph Cabosky, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
According to a new poll, people across political and demographic lines think the private space race is good for the future but still just an ego trip for the billionaires involved.
Sure, they’re billionaires, but the exploits of Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos have undeniably brought space tourism a step closer. That raises tricky legal, ethical and environmental questions.
Virgin Group founder Richard Branson launches Virgin Galactic.
Terry Caws/Alamy Stock Photo
Both Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin are sending spacecrafts – and their billionaire founders – into suborbital flight. But what differentiates a suborbital flight from a trip around Earth?
It wasn’t long after Jeff Bezos announced his plans to go to space that Sir Richard Branson joined in, setting a launch date to beat Bezos by nine days.
Astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson on the International Space Station with a view many more are likely to see soon.
NASA/Tracy Caldwell Dyson/WIkimediaCommons
The first space tourist left Earth 20 years ago aboard a Russian rocket. Now, private companies like Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin are offering trips to the stars for those who can pay.
Space tourism has been slow to get off the ground.
Nadia Bormotova/iStock via Getty Images Plus
The first space tourist left Earth 20 years ago aboard a Russian rocket. Now, private companies are on the cusp of offering trips off Earth for those who can pay.
Space mining might be closer than you think. But legal issues about the ownership of space resources must be urgently addressed to avoid space wars over natural resources.
Ready to take your suborbital selfie?
EvgeniyShkolenko
When it comes to commercial space tourism, suborbital flight are the first frontier. But what are the risks? Are there health requirements? What should you know before taking such a way-out trip?
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft onboard is raised into a vertical position on the launch pad at Launch Complex 39A.
NASA/Bill Ingalls
SpaceX’s launch of astronauts to the International Space Station will make it the first private company to launch humans to space. The effort has ramifications for NASA and spaceflight in general.