Billionaire space race

Short description: Billionaire space rivalry

Jeff Bezos (top), Richard Branson (middle) and Elon Musk (bottom), widely seen as the main competitors of the billionaire space race[1]

The billionaire space race[2][3][4][5] is the rivalry among entrepreneurs who have entered the space industry from other industries – particularly computing.[6][7] This private spaceflight race involves sending privately developed rockets and vehicles to various destinations in space, often in response to government programs or to develop the space tourism sector.[8]

Since 2018, the billionaire space race has primarily been between three billionaires and their respective firms:

* Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin, which is seeking to establish an industrial base in space,[5][3][1] and his Kuiper Systems subsidiary of Amazon seeking to provide satellite-based internet[9]
* Richard Branson's Virgin Group (through Virgin Galactic and the now cancelled Virgin Orbit), which seeks to dominate space tourism, low-cost small orbital launch vehicles, and intercontinental sub-orbital spaceflight.[5][3][1]
* Elon Musk's SpaceX, which seeks to colonize Mars as well as provide satellite-based internet through its Starlink project.[5][1]

Prior to his death in 2018, Paul Allen was also a major player in the billionaire space race through the aerospace division of his firm Vulcan and his financing of programs such as Scaled Composites Tier One. Allen sought to reduce the cost of launching payloads into orbit.[4][10][5]

## Contents

* 1 Background
* 2 Major milestones
* 3 Rivalries
* 3.1 SpaceX vs. Blue Origin
* 3.2 Blue Origin vs. Virgin Galactic
* 4 Former rivalries
* 4.1 Stratolaunch vs. Virgin Orbit
* 5 Criticism
* 6 See also
* 7 References
* 8 Further reading

## Background

The groundwork for the billionaire space race and private spaceflight was arguably laid by Peter Diamandis, an American entrepreneur. In the 1980s, he founded an American national student space society, the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS). Later, Jeff Bezos became a chapter president of SEDS. In the 1990s, Diamandis, disappointed with the state of space development, spurred it on and sparked the suborbital space tourism market, by initiating a prize, the X Prize. This led to Paul Allen becoming involved in the competition, creating the Scaled Composites Tier One platform of SpaceShipOne and White Knight One which won the Ansari X-Prize in 2004. The technology of the winning entrant was then licensed by Richard Branson's Virgin Group as a basis to found Virgin Galactic. The base techniques of Tier One also form the basis for Stratolaunch Systems (formerly of Vulcan Aerospace).[11][8]

Elon Musk's SpaceX was established in 2002, last among the three main rivals. Speaking at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and without reference to private spaceflight, Elon Musk expressed excitement for a new space race in 2018.[12]

Government programs have also fueled the billionaire space race. NASA programs such as the Commercial Crew Program (created in 2010, with grants mostly won by SpaceX and partially by Blue Origin) and the Artemis HLS program (awarded to SpaceX in 2021 and also to Blue Origin in 2023) have pushed the billionaires to compete against each other to be selected for those multi-billion dollar procurement programs. The competition has also resulted in court battles such as Blue Origin v. United States & SpaceX. Those government programs have provided critical funding for the new private space industry and its development.[13]

## Major milestones

Main article: Engineering:Timeline of private spaceflight

* 21 June 2004 – Scaled Composites Tier One, funded by Paul Allen, achieves the first entirely privately funded crewed flight to space (suborbital, crossing the 100 km Kármán line) with the SpaceShipOne flight 15P. The program won the Ansari X Prize later that year.
* 30 May 2020 – SpaceX successfully launches a Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Crew Dragon space capsule during the Demo-2 mission, marking the first privately developed crewed mission to orbit and to visit the International Space Station (ISS).
* 11 July 2021 – Richard Branson made a successful sub-orbital spaceflight as a member of Virgin Galactic Unity 22.[14]
* 20 July 2021 – Jeff Bezos made a successful sub-orbital spaceflight aboard Blue Origin's NS-16, becoming the first billionaire space company founder to cross the Karman Line.[15]
* 16 September 2021 – SpaceX operates the Inspiration4 mission, the first orbital spaceflight with only private citizens aboard.[16]
* April 2023 – On its inaugural flight, Starship becomes the most powerful launch vehicle ever flown.[17]
* May 2024 – Boosters (1st stage) of the Falcon 9 family of rockets have been reused over 300 times. Certification is in progress to be able to reuse a single booster 40 times.[18]
* September 2024 – SpaceX operates the Polaris Dawn mission, which performs the first private spacewalk and becomes the furthest crewed mission from Earth since Apollo 17.[19]
* January 2025 – First launch of New Glenn, Blue Origin's heavy lift reusable launcher contracted for the U.S. NASA Artemis program, NSSL, and other planetary missions.[20]
* April 2025 At 01:46 (UTC), Fram2 launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, becoming the first crewed spaceflight to enter a polar retrograde orbit,[21] i.e., to fly over Earth's poles.[22]

## Rivalries

Part of a series on

Private spaceflight
Astronaut Dale Gardner holding a "For Sale" sign
Active companies

* Arianespace
* Axiom Space
* ARCAspace
* Astra
* Bigelow Aerospace
* Blue Origin
* Copenhagen Suborbitals
* Northrop Grumman
* Rocket Lab
* Sierra Nevada Corporation
* SpaceX
* Virgin Galactic
* Firefly Aerospace

Flown vehicles

* Antares (rocket)
* Ariane 1
* Ariane 2
* Ariane 3
* Ariane 4
* Ariane 5
* Cygnus (spacecraft)
* Dragon 2
* Electron (rocket)
* Falcon 1
* Falcon 9
* Falcon Heavy
* New Shepard
* Pegasus (rocket)
* SpaceX Dragon

Contracts and programs

* Ansari X Prize
* Commercial Crew Development
* Commercial Resupply Services
* Google Lunar X Prize
* SpaceX Mars transportation infrastructure
* SpaceX reusable launch system development program

* v
* t
* e

### SpaceX vs. Blue Origin

SpaceX and Blue Origin have had a history of conflict.[5][7] Blue Origin and SpaceX have had dueling press releases that compete with each other's announcements and events.[23][24]

SpaceX and Blue Origin battled for the right to lease Kennedy Space Center LC-39A, the rocket launch platform that was used to launch the Apollo Moon missions. SpaceX won the lease in 2013, but Blue Origin filed suit in court against that. It is currently in the hands of SpaceX, while Blue Origin rented SLC-36 instead.[7]

SpaceX filed suit against Blue Origin to invalidate their patent on landing rockets aboard ships at sea. They won their court fight in 2014. SpaceX had been attempting to land rockets at sea since 2014, finally succeeding in 2016, before Blue Origin first built a sea-going platform for landing rockets.[7]

SpaceX and Blue Origin got into a Twitter battle about the meaning of a used rocket, landed rocket, and spacerocket, at the end of 2015, when New Shepard successfully landed, after a suborbital jaunt into space. SpaceX had previously launched and landed its Grasshopper rocket multiple times without reaching space. Then SpaceX landed a Falcon 9 first stage, which had been used to launch a satellite into orbit, prompting more Twitter battles at the start of 2016, such as Bezos tweeting "welcome to the club".[7][25]

In late 2016, Blue Origin announced the New Glenn, directly competing against SpaceX's Falcon Heavy, with a larger rocket but lower payload.[26]

At the 2016 International Astronautical Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico, Blue Origin President Rob Meyerson elaborated on the Bezos vision previously outlined in the New Glenn announcement. The Blue Origin New Armstrong would be similar in function to the SpaceX Interplanetary Transport System that Elon Musk unveiled at the same conference.[27]

In April 2021, SpaceX beat Blue Origin to a $2.9 billion contract to build the lunar lander for NASA's Artemis program.[28] In August 2021, Blue Origin subsequently began a legal case against NASA and SpaceX in the Court of Federal Claims, which was dismissed in November of the same year.[29] About two years later in May 2023, NASA awarded Blue Origin a $3.4 billion contract to develop a competing Moon lander, noting that "adding another human landing system partner to NASA's Artemis program will increase competition, reduce costs to taxpayers, support a regular cadence of lunar landings, further invest in the lunar economy, and help NASA achieve its goals on and around the Moon in preparation for future astronaut missions to Mars."[30][31]

### Blue Origin vs. Virgin Galactic

Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic are in the same market, suborbital space tourism, with the space capsule New Shepard and the spaceplane SpaceShipTwo, respectively.[32][33][3][1] The two systems made their first flights with multiple passengers within 10 days of each other: SpaceShipTwo flew on July 11, 2021, and New Shepard followed on July 20, both carrying their billionaire founders and a few other passengers. As of July 2023, SpaceShipTwo has made three tourism flights with two pilots and four passengers each, while New Shepard has made six flights with six passengers each.

In May 2023, Richard Branson ended Virgin Orbit in bankruptcy, and then in December 2023, he announced that he would not invest more money in Virgin Galactic. Having already put one billion dollars into the project, he said that they should have enough money to continue without more from him.[34]

## Former rivalries

Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, was an active early participant in the billionaire space race.

### Stratolaunch vs. Virgin Orbit

The Stratolaunch rivalries are no longer part of the billionaire space race, after 2019, having been suspended at the time of Paul Allen's death.[10][35] The Stratolaunch company has since continued operations under new ownership, but does not focus on orbital space launches anymore.

Vulcan Aerospace subsidiary Stratolaunch Systems planned to air-launch satellite launcher rockets, the same profile as planned by Virgin Orbit for its LauncherOne operations. While LauncherOne was developed and launch aircraft procured (once White Knight Two, now 747 Cosmic Girl), the Scaled Composites "Roc" Model 351 is still being developed (as of 2022) and the rocket to mate to it (the company has refocused away from orbital spaceflight) has yet to be selected.[36] After the death of Paul Allen in 2018, Stratolaunch was sold, and is no longer a billionaire insurgent venture.[10]

## Criticism

The critical response to space tourism has lambasted billionaire founders (e.g., Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos) and questioned their environmental, financial, and social/ethical practices.[2]

## See also

* The Space Barons, 2018 book by Christian Davenport
* Cold War Space Race; between the US and USSR; leading to the Race to the Moon
* Space launch market competition
* Commercialization of space
* Mars race
* List of billionaire spacetravellers

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Polina Marinova (15 November 2016). "What Billionaire Richard Branson Thinks of Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk". Fortune (Time). http://fortune.com/2016/11/15/richard-branson-elon-musk-jeff-bezos/.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Bernstein, Joshua D. (May 2024). "The billionaire space race: Internet memes and the netizen response to space tourism". Annals of Tourism Research Empirical Insights 5 (1). doi:10.1016/j.annale.2024.100122.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Irving, Clive (19 June 2016). "Jeff Bezos Ready to Beat Richard Branson in the Billionaire Space Race". The Daily Beast. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/06/19/jeff-bezos-ready-to-beat-richard-branson-in-the-billionaire-space-race.html.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lafranco, Robert (13 April 2015). "Allen and Branson Best Musk as the Billionaire Space Race Takes Off". Bloomberg. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-13/allen-and-branson-best-musk-as-the-billionaire-space-race-takes-off.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Luzier, Charles W. (17 September 2016). "The great billionaire space race". Reuters. The Week. http://theweek.com/articles/648995/great-billionaire-space-race.
6. ↑ Lynn, Matthew (May 2016). "Watch this space: why billionaires are launching extraterrestrial adventures". The Spectator. http://www.spectator.co.uk/2016/05/watch-this-space-why-billionaires-are-launching-extraterrestrial-adventures/.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Davenport, Christian (19 August 2016). "The inside story of how billionaires are racing to take you to outer space". Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/the-billionaire-space-barons-and-the-next-giant-leap/2016/08/19/795a4012-6307-11e6-8b27-bb8ba39497a2_story.html.
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Guthrie, Julian (2016). How to Make a Spaceship: A Band of Renegades, an Epic Race, and the Birth of Private Spaceflight. Penguin Press. ISBN 978-1-59420-672-6.
9. ↑ "What is Project Kuiper that Jeff Bezos is planning to challenge Elon Musk with? Here are details". The Economic Times. 6 January 2025. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/us/what-is-project-kuiper-that-jeff-bezos-is-planning-to-challenge-elon-musk-with-here-are-details/articleshow/116997941.cms.
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Romano, Benjamin; Long, Katherine Anne; Kiley, Brendan (26 November 2019). "What's happening to Paul Allen's billions? A year after his death, it's complicated". The Seattle Times. https://www.seattletimes.com/business/more-than-a-year-after-his-death-plans-for-paul-allens-philanthropy-still-shrouded-in-secrecy/.
11. ↑ Wadhwa, Vivek (19 September 2016). "The renegade whose dream started the latest space race". Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/the-billionaire-space-barons-and-the-next-giant-leap/2016/08/19/795a4012-6307-11e6-8b27-bb8ba39497a2_story.html.
12. ↑ Yuhas, Alan (9 February 2018). "The new space race: how billionaires launched the next era of exploration". The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/feb/09/new-space-race-billionaires-elon-musk-jeff-bezos.
13. ↑ Ben-Itzhak, Svetla (January 11, 2022). "Companies are commercializing outer space. Do government programs still matter?". The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/01/11/companies-are-commercializing-outer-space-do-government-programs-still-matter/.
14. ↑ Wattles, Jackie (11 July 2021). "Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson successfully rockets to outer space". https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/11/tech/richard-branson-virgin-galactic-space-flight-scn/index.html.
15. ↑ Chang, Kenneth (2021-07-20). "Latest Updates: Bezos and Blue Origin Crew Land After Short Flight to Space" (in en-US). The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/07/20/science/jeff-bezos-space-flight.
16. ↑ "Inspiration4: Why SpaceX's first all-private mission is a big deal" (in en-US). 2021-09-15. https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/09/15/1035797/inspiration4-spacex-private-mission/.
17. ↑ emmalouisebackeanthro (2023-04-20). "SpaceX's biggest rocket flies for the first time: But Do We Understand What This Actually Means?" (in en). https://thegeekanthropologist.com/2023/04/20/spacexs-biggest-rocket-flies-for-the-first-time-but-do-we-understand-what-this-actually-means/.
18. ↑ "SpaceX completes 300th Falcon booster landing during Starlink mission – Spaceflight Now" (in en-US). https://spaceflightnow.com/2024/04/23/live-coverage-spacex-to-launch-starlink-satellites-on-falcon-9-flight-from-cape-canaveral/.
19. ↑ Berger, Eric (2024-09-10). "Polaris Dawn takes to the skies, setting the stage for a daring private spacewalk" (in en-us). https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/09/bold-private-spaceflight-begins-early-tuesday-with-a-break-in-the-weather/.
20. ↑ Foust, Jeff (2024-04-25). "NASA planning September launch of Mars smallsat mission on first New Glenn" (in en-US). https://spacenews.com/nasa-planning-september-launch-of-mars-smallsat-mission-on-first-new-glenn/.
21. ↑ McDowell, Jonathan [@planet4589]. "First Space Force orbit data for Fram-2 out , showing it in a 202 x 413 km x 90.01 deg orbit". https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/1906922678067560513. Missing or empty `|date=` (help)
22. ↑ Foust, Jeff (2025-04-01). "SpaceX launches Fram2 private astronaut mission" (in en-US). https://spacenews.com/spacex-launches-fram2-private-astronaut-mission/.
23. ↑ Hull, Dana (8 March 2017). "SpaceX Will Launch Its First Reused Rocket Later This Month". Bloomberg. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-08/spacex-reflying-rocket-this-month-in-step-toward-cheap-launches.
24. ↑ Paoletta, Rae (31 March 2017). "Is Blue Origin's Tourist Capsule Sexier Than SpaceX's?". Gizmodo. https://gizmodo.com/is-blue-origins-tourist-capsule-sexier-than-spacexs-1793906303.
25. ↑ Bezos, Jeff [@JeffBezos] (2015-12-21). "Congrats @SpaceX on landing Falcon's suborbital booster stage. Welcome to the club!" (in en). https://twitter.com/JeffBezos/status/679116636310360067.
26. ↑ Mack, Eric (12 September 2016). "Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin to take on SpaceX with supersized rocket New Glenn". cNet news. https://www.cnet.com/news/new-glenn-rocket-from-jeff-bezos-blue-origin-to-compete-with-spacex/.
27. ↑ Boyle, Alan (27 September 2016). "Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin space venture sets its sights on trips to Mars and the moon". GeekWire. http://www.geekwire.com/2016/jeff-bezos-blue-origin-space-mars-moon/.
28. ↑ Brown, Katherine (2021-04-16). "NASA Picks SpaceX to Land Next Americans on Moon". NASA (Press release). Archived from the original on 2021-04-22. Retrieved 2021-05-02.
29. ↑ Sheetz, Michael (2021-11-04). "Bezos' Blue Origin loses NASA lawsuit over SpaceX $2.9 billion lunar lander contract" (in en). https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/04/bezos-blue-origin-loses-lawsuit-against-nasa-over-spacex-lunar-lander.html.
30. ↑ "NASA Selects Blue Origin as Second Artemis Lunar Lander Provider". http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-selects-blue-origin-as-second-artemis-lunar-lander-provider.
31. ↑ "Bezos' Blue Origin wins NASA astronaut moon lander contract to compete with SpaceX's Starship" (in en). 19 May 2023. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/19/nasa-awards-blue-origin-sld-crew-lunar-lander-contract.html.
32. ↑ Hrala, Josh (4 August 2016). "Virgin Galactic is finally licensed to take tourists into space". Science Alert. http://www.sciencealert.com/virgin-galactic-just-got-awarded-their-operating-license.
33. ↑ Wattles, Jackie (20 June 2016). "Blue Origin successfully crash tests space-tourism capsule". CNN Money. https://money.cnn.com/2016/06/19/news/companies/blue-origin-rocket-landing-fourth-mission/.
34. ↑ Symington, Steve (23 December 2023). "No More Cash From Richard Branson: Is This The End For Virgin Galactic?". The Motley Fool. https://www.fool.com/investing/2023/12/23/no-more-cash-from-richard-branson-is-this-the-end/.
35. ↑ Clark, Stephen (11 October 2019). "Stratolaunch under new ownership". Spaceflight Now. https://spaceflightnow.com/2019/10/11/stratolaunch-under-new-ownership/.
36. ↑ Lewontin, Max (20 June 2016). "Paul Allen vs. Elon Musk: a different approach to satellite launches". Christian Science Monitor. https://www.csmonitor.com/Technology/2016/0620/Paul-Allen-vs.-Elon-Musk-a-different-approach-to-satellite-launches.

## Further reading

* Bernstein, Joshua D. (May 2024). "The billionaire space race: Internet memes and the netizen response to space tourism". Annals of Tourism Research Empirical Insights 5 (1). doi:10.1016/j.annale.2024.100122.
* Davenport, Christian (2018). The Space Barons: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the Quest to Colonize the Cosmos. PublicAffairs. ISBN 978-1-61039-829-9.
* Fernholz, Tim (2018). Rocket Billionaires: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the New Space Race. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 978-1-328-66223-1.
* Guthrie, Julian (2016). How to Make a Spaceship: A Band of Renegades, an Epic Race, and the Birth of Private Spaceflight. Penguin Books. ISBN 978-1-59420-672-6.
* Vance, Ashlee (2015). Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future. Ecco. ISBN 978-0-06-230123-9.

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* Strategy of Technology doctrine
* Strategic Defense Initiative
* Space Station Freedom proposal
* 1984 Space Act
* 1985 anti-satellite missile test
* Space Shuttle Challenger disaster
* Rogers Report
* Ride Report

George H. W. Bush
space policy|

* Space Exploration Initiative
* 1990 Augustine Committee
* Hubble Space Telescope
* National Space Council

Clinton
space policy|

* Faster, better, cheaper
* Gore–Chernomyrdin Commission
* ISS
* Shuttle–Mir program
* ISS programme
* Politics
* Launch of the Mars Exploration Program
* 1998 Space Act
* Decadal Planning Team
* Launch of the X-37 program

George W. Bush
space policy|

* Aerospace Industry Commission
* 2002 National missile defense directive
* Space Shuttle Columbia disaster
* Vision for Space Exploration
* Aldridge Commission
* ESAS
* 2005 NASA Act
* Launch of the Constellation program
* Operation Burnt Frost

Obama
space policy|

* 2009 Augustine Committee
* Kennedy Space Center speech
* Cancellation of the Constellation program
* Launch of the Space Launch System program
* Redesign of the Orion program
* Flexible path
* Mars Exploration Joint Initiative
* 2010 NASA Act
* Title 51
* Space Shuttle retirement
* Development of the Commercial Crew Program
* 2014 NASA Act
* 2015 Space Act

First Trump
space policy|

* Re-establishment of the National Space Council
* Creation of the Space Force
* Launch of the Artemis program
* Launch of the Lunar Gateway project
* Executive Order 13959

* China exclusion policy of NASA
* International Traffic in Arms Regulations
* Full-spectrum dominance doctrine
* Budget of NASA
* House Committee on Space
* NESDIS
* Office of Space Commerce
* FCC
* FAA/AST
* NRO
* IEEE
* Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society
* Antennas & Propagation Society
* Broadcast Technology Society
* Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society
* Vehicular Technology Society

USSR and Russia|

| Soviet
space
program|

| Stalin|

* Operation Osoaviakhim (1946)
* list of scientists

|

Khrushchev|

* Sputnik program
* Sputnik crisis (1957)
* Vostok program (1960–1963)
* Fractional Orbital Bombardment System (1960–1982)
* Soviet crewed lunar programs (1961–1976)
* Voskhod program (1964–1966)

Brezhnev|

* Soyuz program (1967–)
* Interkosmos (1967–1991)
* Salyut program (1971–1986)
* Almaz (1973–1977)
* Buran program (1974–1993)
* Apollo–Soyuz (1975)

Gorbachev|

* Mir (1986–2001)

Roscosmos|

| Yeltsin|

* Gore–Chernomyrdin Commission
* ISS (1993–)
* Shuttle–Mir program
* ISS programme
* Politics

|

Medvedev|

* Medvedev modernisation programme
* 2010 Military doctrine

Putin|

* United Rocket and Space Corporation (2013–2015)
* 2014 Military doctrine
* 2015 Creation of Roscosmos
* Mars
* MARS-500 study
* ExoMars

Other policies|

* Australian space program
* Brazilian space program
* Emirati space program
* Japanese space program
* Kazakh space program
* Kenyan space program
* Lebanese space program
* North Korean space program
* Pakistani space program
* Space programme 2040
* Philippine space program
* South Korean space program
* Ugandan space initiatives
* International Space Station programme
* Politics of the International Space Station

United Nations|

* International Civil Aviation Organization
* ITU-R
* Office for Outer Space Affairs
* UN-SPIDER
* Space Generation Advisory Council
* Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space
* General Assembly Fourth Committee

Other intergovernmental
or inter-agency bodies|

* African Space Agency
* Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems
* Committee on Earth Observation Satellites
* Committee on Space Research
* International Planetary Data Alliance
* International Cospas-Sarsat Programme
* Group on Earth Observations
* Global Standards Collaboration
* Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee
* International Charter 'Space and Major Disasters'
* International Mobile Satellite Organization
* International Space Exploration Coordination Group
* International Space Station Multilateral Coordination Board
* International Telecommunications Satellite Organization
* Intersputnik
* Orbital Debris Co-ordination Working Group
* Regional African Satellite Communication Organization
* Arab Satellite Communications Organization
* Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization

Space law|

* Partial Test Ban Treaty (1963)
* Outer Space Treaty (1967)
* Rescue Agreement (1968)
* Space Liability Convention (1972)
* US-USSR Cooperation Agreement (1972)
* Satellite Convention (1974)
* Registration Convention (1975)
* Bogota Declaration (1976)
* Moon Treaty (1979)
* Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space (1981)
* International Cospas-Sarsat Programme Agreement (1988)
* International Space Station Intergovernmental Agreement (1998)
* International Docking System Standard
* International Charter 'Space and Major Disasters' (1999)
* Cape Town Treaty, Space Assets protocol (2012)
* Artemis Accords (2020)
* Space jurisdiction
* Common heritage of mankind
* Extraterrestrial real estate
* Astronomical naming conventions
* ITU Radio Regulations
* CCSDS standards
* ODCWG standards
* CEOS standards
* COSPAR standards
* International Designator
* IPDA standards
* GSC standards
* GEO standards
* ISECG standards
* Various conventions, treaties, agreements, memorandums, charters or declarations establishing and governing intergovernmental organisations or inter-agency bodies dealing with space affairs

Commercial use|

* Space industry
* India
* Russia
* United Kingdom
* United States
* Private spaceflight
* Launch market competition
* Space tourism
* Space advertising
* Space technology
* Space-based economy
* Space trade
* Space manufacturing
* Lunar resources
* Project Harvest Moon
* Asteroid mining

Militarisation|

| Space forces,
units and formations|

* Space forces
* Australia
* Brazil
* Canada
* China
* Colombia
* France
* Germany
* Iran
* AJA
* IRGC
* Israel
* Japan
* Netherlands
* New Zealand
* North Korea
* Pakistan
* Russia
* South Korea
* Spain
* Thailand
* Turkey
* United Kingdom
* United States
* History
* Structure
* Vietnam
* Ranks and insignia
* Space commands
* France
* India
* Italy
* NATO
* NORAD
* United Kingdom
* United States

|

Space warfare|

* Space domain awareness
* Space weapon
* Anti-satellite weapon
* China
* India
* Russia
* United States
* Kinetic bombardment
* Kill vehicle
* Missile defense
* Military satellite
* Reconnaissance satellite
* Spaceplane
* Satellite jamming

Space advocacy|

* Air & Space Forces Association
* Alliance for Space Development
* National Space Society
* Space Frontier Foundation
* Mars Society
* Moon Society
* Students for the Exploration and Development of Space
* Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies
* British Interplanetary Society
* Coalition for Deep Space Exploration
* International Academy of Astronautics
* International Astronautical Federation
* International Astronomical Union
* Lunar Explorers Society
* Space Exploration Alliance
* Space Fellowship
* Space Force Association
* Space Foundation
* The Planetary Society

* v
* t
* e

Public-sector space agencies

Africa|

| Pan-African
and pan-Arab|

* RASCOM
* Arabsat

|

National|

* ASAL
* EgSA
* NARSS
* ESSTI
* GSSTC
* KSA
* NASRDA
* SANSA

Americas|

| North America|

* CSA
* NASA
* NESDIS
* OSC
* FAA/AST
* FCC
* USSF
* USSPACECOM
* NRO

|

Latin America
and the Caribbean|

* ALCE
* AEM
* CONAE
* ABE
* AEB
* DCTA
* INPE
* ITA
* CCE
* ABAE
* IVIC

Asia|

| Pan-Asian|

* APSCO

|

Central Asia|

* KazCosmos1
* Roscosmos1
* SRI
* VK
* TNSA1

East Asia|

* CNSA
* SASTIND
* CASC
* CALT
* CAST
* CCF
* CGWIC
* PLAASF
* CASIC
* JAXA
* ISAS
* JSS
* NICT
* NATA
* KASA
* KARI
* KASI
* SaTReC
* TASA

South Asia|

* SPARRSO
* ISRO2
* Antrix Corp
* DoS
* NRSC
* NSIL
* DSA
* SUPARCO

Southeast Asia|

* BRIN
* ORPA
* INASA
* MYSA
* PhilSA
* SSTL
* GISTDA
* VNSC

West Asia|

* ArmCosmos1
* MAKA1
* NSSA
* NEHSA
* ISA
* ISRC
* ISA
* NCSR
* SSA
* KACST-SRI
* SSA2
* GORS
* TUA
* TÜBİTAK UZAY
* UAESA (MBRSC)

Europe|

| Pan-European|

* CEN/CENELEC
* CEPT
* ETSI
* Eurocontrol
* ECAC
* ESA
* ECSS
* ESTEC
* EAC
* ESRIN
* ECSAT
* ESAC
* ESOC
* ESTRACK
* Guiana Space Centre
* EUMETSAT
* EUTELSAT IGO
* ESO

|

EU and EEA|

* DG DEFIS
* EUSPA
* EU SatCen
* EASA
* BEREC
* ALR2
* BELSPO
* BIRA-IASB
* SRTI2
* CSO2
* DTU Space
* ESO1
* CNES2
* AAE
* CdE
* DLR2
* HSA
* HSO2
* ASI
* LSA
* LSO1
* SRON
* NSO
* NOSA
* POLSA2
* CBK PAN
* UKE
* KRRiT
* ORO
* ULC
* PTSPACE
* ROSA2
* INTA
* AEC
* EAE
* AEE
* SNSA

Other|

* ArmCosmos1
* MAKA1
* BSA1
* KazCosmos1
* Roscosmos1
* SRI
* VVKO
* SSO
* TUA
* TÜBİTAK UZAY
* SSAU1
* UKSA2

Oceania|

* ASA
* CSIRO
* NZSA

World|

* CCSDS
* CEOS
* COSPAR
* IPDA
* Cospas-Sarsat
* GEO
* GSC
* IADC
* ICSMD
* IMSO
* ISECG
* ISS MCB
* ITSO
* Intersputnik
* ODCWG
* ITU-R
* UNCOPUOS
* UNOOSA
* UNOSAT

Former|

* BNSC
* KCST
* INCOSPAR
* LAPAN
* NAL
* NASDA
* SSP
* MOM
* Interkosmos

* See also: Timeline of first orbital launches by country
* 1 Preceded by the Soviet space program
* 2 Preceded by Interkosmos participation

* v
* t
* e

Blue Origin

Staff|

* Jeff Bezos (founder)
* Robert Smith (chief executive officer)
* Jeffrey Ashby (chief of mission assurance)

Launch vehicles|

* Goddard
* New Shepard
* New Glenn

Rocket engines|

* BE-1
* BE-2
* BE-3
* BE-4
* BE-7

Facilities|

* Kent-Seattle headquarters
* West Texas launch site
* SLC-36 Florida

Other projects|

* Blue Moon

Related articles|

* ULA Vulcan

* v
* t
* e

SpaceX

History of SpaceX

Launch vehicles|

| Current|

* Falcon 9
* "Full Thrust" Block 5
* Falcon Heavy

|

In development|

* Starship*
* development history

Retired|

* Falcon 1
* Falcon 9
* v1.0
* v1.1
* "Full Thrust" v1.2 * Block 4

Canceled|

* Falcon 1e*
* Falcon 5*
* F9R Dev2*
* Falcon 9 Air*

Test vehicles|

* Grasshopper (retired)
* F9R Dev1† (destroyed)
* DragonFly (retired)
* Starhopper (retired)
* Starship Mk1†
* Starship Mk2* (suspended)
* Starship Mk3/SN1*
* Starship Mk4/SN2*

Spacecraft|

| Cargo|

* Dragon
* Starship cargo*
* Starship tanker*

|

Crewed|

* Dragon 2
* Starship*

Reusable hardware|

* First-stage boosters
* B1019
* B1021
* B1023
* B1029
* B1046
* B1047
* B1048
* B1049
* B1050
* B1051
* B1056
* Cargo capsules
* C106
* C108

Engines|

* Kestrel (retired)
* Merlin (1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, Vacuum)
* Draco
* SuperDraco
* Raptor
* Methalox thruster*

Missions|

* Falcon 1 launches
* Falcon 9 launches
* Falcon Heavy launches
* test flight
* Starlink
* #dearMoon project*

Launch sites|

| Orbital|

* Cape Canaveral
* Space Launch Complex 40
* Launch Pad 39A
* Vandenberg
* Space Launch Complex 4E
* Kwajalein
* Omelek Island†

|

Atmospheric|

* McGregor test site
* New Mexico test site†
* Boca Chica
* South Texas Launch Site

Landing sites|

* Autonomous spaceport drone ships
* Landing Zones
* LZ-1 at Cape Canaveral
* LZ-2 at Cape Canaveral
* LZ-4 at Vandenberg

Other facilities|

* Headquarters and factory (Hawthorne, California)
* Rocket development and test facility (McGregor, Texas)
* Satellite development facility (Redmond, Washington)
* Regional offices (Chantilly, Houston, Seattle, Washington DC)

Contracts|

* Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS)
* Commercial Resupply Services (CRS)
* Commercial Crew Development (CCDev)
* Commercial Crew integrated Capability (CCiCap)
* Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS)

R&D programs|

* SpaceX reusable launch system development program
* Falcon 9 first-stage landing tests
* Red Dragon (canceled)
* SpaceX Mars transportation infrastructure

Key people|

* Elon Musk (CEO, CTO)
* Gwynne Shotwell (President and COO)
* Tom Mueller (VP of Propulsion Development)

* denotes unflown vehicles or engines and future missions or sites. † denotes failed missions, destroyed vehicles and abandoned sites.

* v
* t
* e

Virgin Galactic

Virgin Group

Staff|

* Richard Branson (Chairman)
* George T. Whitesides (CEO)
* Jon Campagna (CFO)
* Mike Moses (President)
* Julia Hunter (VP)
* David Mackay (chief pilot)
* Mark P. Stucky (test pilot)
* Frederick W. Sturckow (test pilot)
* Beth Moses (trainer)

Vehicle classes|

* Tier 1b
* SpaceShipTwo
* RocketMotorTwo
* White Knight Two
* LauncherOne
* NewtonOne
* NewtonTwo
* NewtonThree
* NewtonFour
* Boeing 747
* Tier 2
* SpaceShipThree

Vehicles|

* SS2
* VSS Enterprise†
* VSS Unity
* WK2
* VMS Eve
* VMS Spirit of Steve Fossett
* B747
* Cosmic Girl

Spaceports|

* Spaceport America
* Spaceport Sweden

Disasters|

* 2007 explosion
* 2014 VSS Enterprise crash

Spaceflight|

* VSS Unity VP-03
* VF-01

Related companies|

* Virgin Group
* Galactic Ventures
* The Spaceship Company
* Virgin Orbit
* Vox Space
* Scaled Composites (Northrop Grumman)
* Mojave Aerospace Ventures (Vulcan Aerospace)

Related topics|

* Sub-orbital spaceflight
* Kármán line
* Space tourism
* Commercial astronaut
* Composite aircraft
* Air launch
* Parasite aircraft
* Air launch to orbit
* Orbital launch vehicle
* Smallsats
* Mothership aircraft

Template:Jeff Bezos

* v
* t
* e

Elon Musk

Companies|

* Zip2 (1995–1999)
* X.com (1999–2000, later PayPal)
* SpaceX (2002–present)
* Tesla, Inc. (2004–present)
* SolarCity (2006–present)
* OpenAI (2015–present)
* Neuralink (2016–present)
* The Boring Company (2016–present)

Other endeavors|

* Hyperloop
* Tesla Roadster in space
* Boring Test Tunnel

Family|

* Maye Musk (mother)
* Justine Musk (first wife)
* Talulah Riley (second wife)
* Grimes (current girlfriend)
* Kimbal Musk (brother)
* Tosca Musk (sister)

In culture|

* Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future (2015 biography)
* "The Musk Who Fell to Earth" (The Simpsons, 2015)

Category

Template:Billionaires

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