The privatisation of space travel
How is corporate capital changing our journey into the cosmos?
This is a clipped version of an episode of The Real Story.
In June 2020, a private company sent astronauts into orbit for the first time - with the launch of the SpaceX Crew Dragon mission to the International Space Station. These are clips from an episode of The Real Story broadcast just weeks before that mission.
Other big space projects planned by private companies include tourism, commercial space stations, a return to the Moon, habitats on Mars and even the mining of asteroids.
National space agencies may partner with the private sector to reduce short-term costs and spread risks, but what will be the long-term impact of new technologies and intellectual property being by owned by companies and not states? What laws are in place to police what is and isn鈥檛 allowed to be constructed in orbit? And as the United States, Europe, China, Japan and India all compete to pass new milestones in the exploration of our solar system, would a more collaborative approach be of greater value to humanity? Or is Cold War-like competition exactly what鈥檚 needed to spark innovation?
In the end, will the private sector dominate the future of space?
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