"We have probes that have landed on every planet" says the non-astronaut NASA suit here (just after 20:30.) Really? I'm sure that'll come as quite a stunning jaw dropping shock to everyone at JPL - not to mention the average high school science student.
In 2020 we still have SpaceX relying on NASA money, but Blue Origin can be completely funded by Jeff Bezos. Obviously they still take NASA contracts but I believe that is to improve their reputation and because they can. But I think we are transitioning toward a largely private Space industry. There is this one company, for example, that makes money from photos of Earth they take from their satellites. SpaceX is investing in its own internet called Starlink. Healthcare companies would also pay top dollar to private companies for zero-g experiments after ISS retires. In a few decades to a century, space tourism and asteroid mining will be lucrative.
"We have probes that have landed on every planet" says the non-astronaut NASA suit here (just after 20:30.) Really? I'm sure that'll come as quite a stunning jaw dropping shock to everyone at JPL - not to mention the average high school science student.
In 2020 we still have SpaceX relying on NASA money, but Blue Origin can be completely funded by Jeff Bezos. Obviously they still take NASA contracts but I believe that is to improve their reputation and because they can. But I think we are transitioning toward a largely private Space industry. There is this one company, for example, that makes money from photos of Earth they take from their satellites. SpaceX is investing in its own internet called Starlink. Healthcare companies would also pay top dollar to private companies for zero-g experiments after ISS retires. In a few decades to a century, space tourism and asteroid mining will be lucrative.