BLAST-OFF: THE NEW ERA OF PRIVATE SPACE EXPLORATION
The future of space exploration has never been so exciting. As NASA partners with SpaceX and its Crew Dragon to land two of its astronauts at the International Space Station - the first successful launch in more than nine years from US soil - many are asking what’ll come next, and how we can utilize the skills of private space firms to venture further and make history.
MAKING HISTORY
On Saturday, May 30 at 15:22, two American astronauts lifted off from NASA’s iconic Flordiaian launchpad, once graced by Apollo, and made their way to the International Space Station on May 31, a journey that would take them more than 400 kilometers from Earth. The trip itself wasn’t particularly groundbreaking, it had been taken hundreds of times before by astronauts around the world, but quickly attracted the attention of aerospace enthusiasts, partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic forcing us into lockdown, but also because it marked the first time astronauts used a spaceship built and launched by a private firm, in this case, Elon Musk’s SpaceX and its Crew Dragon; the beginning of a new era for space travel.
Built by SpaceX, the Crew Dragon was first unveiled in May 2014, a seven-seat concept vessel that, prior to being used by NASA, was prototyped as the Dragon 1, launching 20 times to deliver cargo to the International Space Station from 2012-2020. Alongside the Falcon 9 rocket, also built by SpaceX, Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley set off on their voyage, signaling a new direction for NASA. Previously, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration had a fleet of five spaceships
under a Space Shuttle program, used to make a total of 135 combined journeys into space and the International Space Station. Two accidents in 1986 and 2003 - resulted in the death of seven astronauts each. As a result of the second failed mission in 2003 - which claimed the lives of Rick Husband, commander; Michael Anderson, payload commander; David Brown, mission specialist; Kalpana Chawla, mission specialist; Laurel Clark, mission specialist; William McCool, pilot; and Ilan Ramon, payload specialist - the US government announced it would wind down the Shuttle program.
It took another eight years for the remaining three spaceships - the Endeavour, Atlantis, and Discovery - to be formally retired, and the decision was made for NASA to stop building and operating the ships due to financial constraints and “wasting” scientific resources. Essential supplies could instead be fulfilled by space vehicles operated by private companies, and NASA could hitch rides from Russian space ships to travel to the Space Station. It was later revealed that NASA paid tens of millions for every trip it took, and as early as March of 2020, the organization confirmed it would pay $90m for a seat on the Russian Soyuz crew launch. Despite seemingly astronomical costs, outsourcing travel makes sense for NASA, but the organization naturally wants to operate from home soil and eliminate its dependence on foreign space missions.
The latest SpaceX mission is the result of more than ten years of efforts to find a private player who can build and operate a commercial “space transport network”, allowing NASA to focus on its deep space exploration and move towards
taking humans to the moon, Mars, and perhaps even other asteroids in the decades ahead. Whether the partnership will be an exclusive affair in the years ahead remain to be seen, but it’s clear that NASA is back in action and ready to reclaim its place on the world stage once more with SpaceX by its side.
PARTNERING WITH PRIVATE COMPANIES
NASA’s plan to work with SpaceX is not entirely unusual; indeed, around the world, space agencies are increasingly leaning on private companies who can fund innovation without the worry of government cuts and public backlash. Alongside the biggest players - Boeing and SpaceX - there are dozens of other entities building launch services, such as Virgin Galatic, which has already made successful trips into space and wants to offer passenger rides. In fact, the firm wants to start 90-minute space flights on its SpaceShipTwo program from as