The race has started. Today, countries and companies small and large jockey for position in the suborbital track, and many analysts think that's a good thing. Privatized rockets and space stations open up orbital access to nations, businesses and even people. With deep enough pockets, they can skip the economic and political risks of establishing their own space program and, for a relative pittance, flag down a parabolic taxi, book lodgings on a space station or secure cargo room for a satellite, experiment or instruments.
There are many private companies trying to become the first to take tourist to space. Some of the companies include:
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Especially in the modern world of divisive politics in which budgeting priorities are heavily debated, NASA and government funded space exploration have been deprioritized. Since spending for space exploration has not kept up with inflation, major budget cuts have caused many of NASA’s programs to shut down.
For example, the Space Shuttle program, which brought astronauts and important cargo pieces to the International Space Station, was discontinued in 2011 due to NASA budget cuts. To fill the void left by discontinued NASA programs, many private companies have received money from NASA to perform important functions. This launched the privatization of space exploration. |