The Commercial Space Industry

Discloser: I have no Idea why the text won't change so it's all legible. I've tried everything I could think of, but at this point I give up. I think if you highlight the text, it makes it a little easier :(

In the beginning...
Unfortunately, Russia beat us into space, launching their satellite, Sputnik 1, into orbit in 1957. Just behind that was U.S satellite Explorer 1, which launched in 1958. The first human in space was Russian Lt Yuri Gagarin. Vostok 1 launched on April 12, 1961, and orbited for 108 minutes, at an altitude of roughly 202 miles (A Brief History of Space Exploration).

This is where U.S. shines! And No Conspiracy theories allowed to post on this blog :)
On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 carried 3 men into space and landed Neil armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the surface of the moon. This was a one day mission and returned safely to earth on July 21st (A Brief History of Space Exploration).

1) Space Tourism:
The first ever space tourist was Dennis Tito. On April 28, 2001, Dennis took part in the first commercial space flight, taking off for an 8 day mission on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft and entering the international space station. It cost him a total of $20 million dollars to take the trip. Space Adventures, the virgin based company that arranged Dennis's mission with Russia's Federal space Agency, has sent a total of 7 other people into space since the mission in 2001. (Writer, M. W.)

More recently, Space X launched the largest rocket ever built into space. On February 6, 2018, Elon Musk, founder and CEO of space X, launched the Falcon heavy rocket carrying his Roadster Tesla on a journey through space. The entire rocket is designed to be reusable. The boosters have been designed and where proven successful, to both take off, and deploy its landing legs and successfully return and land on earth. This latest launch has shown how private companies are striving to make commercial space flights even more possible and safe a flight can really be.

2) Rules and Regulations:The Commercial Space Launch Act of 1984 was the first regulations put in place. This authorized the Department of Transportation (DOT) more specifically the FAA's office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) to regulate launches and reentry vehicles and launch sites. This act was amended two time already, once in 1988 to make it easier for companies to obtain licenses and insurance, and again in 2004. This side of the industry is new, and like all new things, rules and regulations are going to change, usually for the better. Something like this needs to be regulated with safety in mind, however, it should make it outrageous to obtain and maintain a license to continue operations. With the government promoting the commercial space industry, companies, like space X, have been developing rockets and other ways to make the publics dreams of going to space true (Office of Commercial Space Transportation). 

3) Future of Commercial Space:
In the near future, I see space travel as a bucket list (rich persons bucket list) only type of travel. Until the cost becomes more reasonable for the normal person, it wont be a huge success in the general public. However, if we ever need to get off earth and go to mars because earth becomes uninhabitable, then everyone might get the chance to do so, but I don't see that happening in my life time.

4)What does it take to work in the industry?

Their are many jobs to be offered other then a pilot onboard the space crafts. Unfortunately, many if not all of the jobs require some sort of engineering degree, and a background in developing software systems for large vehicles. Other jobs many include chauffeurs? It would be pretty cool to drive around the pilot or even Elon Musk, maybe you'll become best friends and he'll take you with him on a flight some time because theirs an open seat. 
one can only dream though :)



A Brief History of Space Exploration. (n.d.). Retrieved February 22, 2018, from http://www.aerospace.org/education/stem-outreach/space-primer/a-brief-history-of-space-exploration/


Contributor, E. H. (n.d.). Facts About SpaceX's Falcon Heavy Rocket. Retrieved February 22, 2018, from https://www.space.com/39779-falcon-heavy-facts.html


Office of Commercial Space Transportation. (2017, September 27). Retrieved February 22, 2018, from https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ast/regulations/


Writer, M. W. (n.d.). First Space Tourist: How a U.S. Millionaire Bought a Ticket to Orbit. Retrieved February 22, 2018, from https://www.space.com/11492-space-tourism-pioneer-dennis-tito.html