The Dawn of the Commercial Space Age

Nov 22

Nov 22 The Dawn of the Commercial Space Age

In the 1960s, humanity entered the Space Age. As the United States and Soviets hit landmark after landmark of interstellar feats, the masses dreamed of man’s adventures and colonization of space. Media like Star Wars and the Jetsons saw the great unknown of space as the future of humanity. The world looked to the future for the promise of man venturing into space travel. However, by the 1990s funding for space technology and travel sharply fell following the end of the Cold War. Humanity’s ambitions for space were kept on hold for the time being.

Visions of the FutureImage via — Visions of the Future
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In the 2000s, mainstream interest in space rose once again. The 2006 controversy over Pluto losing its status as a dwarf planet reached national attention. Meanwhile, movies like Avatar and Interstellar reimagined humanity’s place in space. In 2016, Nasa released its Visions of the Future Line: a series of pseudo-vintage nebular travel posters. Evoking the fantastical imagery of 19th century imperial travel and grand tours, the line seemed like an otherworldly and impossible dream.

Today, that dream is starting to become true.

We are living in the Dawn of the Commercial Space Age.

The commercialization of space travel has been catalyzed by private companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic. In the past few years, these companies have successfully accomplished technological strides in the quest for space travel, like SpaceX creating the first reusable launch system. Furthermore, it introduces a new investment side growth in the space industry. Recently, Virgin Galactic became the first commercial human space travel group to open on the stock exchange. However, the rapid growth in privatizing space travel also marks a social shift in the accessibility of space.

Blue Origin, SpaceX and Virgin Galactic are three of the most publicly recognized commercial space travel companies. Images via

NASA selected its original astronauts from a competitive pool of military personnel. Today this has expanded to include civilians with extensive backgrounds in STEM fields as mission specialists. Furthermore, NASA also has a rigorous Astronaut Candidate training program, with only 350 people having been selected from it in the past sixty years. The rigor of the program is further heightened when considering the health criteria in place for selection. Candidates undergo intensive physical training and simulations to prepare for space conditions. These standards are in place due to the physical, emotional and mental demands of space travel.

Candidates undergo intensive spacewalk training

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However, the rise in space tourism begs the question of whether such standards will be maintained. While Virgin Galactic maintains that its selection process will include mental and physical health evaluations, it also released the statement, "We are making every effort to make space travel as inclusive as possible" in regards to the intensity of this testing. There seem to be efforts from Virgin Galactic to ensure traveler safety, however, its track record with design safety does not impress. In 2014, the VSS Enterprise, a SpaceShipTwo test vehicle, crashed in the Mohave Desert, killing its co-pilot and injuring the pilot. After reviewing this case, the National Transportation Safety Board found serious safety failures in regards to the vehicle’s design, pilot training and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) oversight. These casualties and mistakes should force companies to have more extensive training and manufacturing procedures but that is not the case.

“We are making every effort to make space travel as inclusive as possible.”

Today, there are over 600 people on waitlists to board Virgin Galactic’s first interstellar flights. Many have kept down $100,000 deposits on their trips, with the entire ninety minute trip costing a total of $250,000. Of these ninety minutes, only five minutes will be spent in space. In the race to reach space, humanity has started to privatize a resource that was once a collective source of inspiration.

In 1967, the Outer Space Treaty was written, establishing space as a “province for all of humanity.” The Treaty states that no countries can be sovereign over properties in space and promotes humanity’s peaceful usage of space. Since then, over 107 countries have signed the Treaty. But the Treaty does not mention corporations. Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX, has voiced his public intention to create a city on Mars with 1 million inhabitants within the next fifty years. This claim is one of many that raises the issue of humanity’s place in space.