Who is in charge? Examining the state of private competition into space
Virgin Galactic: Billionaire Richard Branson, the owner, is planning test flights this year for the company's SpaceShipTwo space shuttle, which can carry eight passengers. Commercial launches have already been scheduled for next year.
Elon Musk's SpaceX: The co-founder of PayPal boasts the first privately funded rocket to reach satellite orbit and has signed a $1.6 billion deal with NASA to deliver supplies to the International Space Station.
Orbital Sciences Corp: The experienced space company builds small rockets to launch satellites and holds a $1.9 billion contract with NASA to supply equipment to the International Space Station.
Scaled Composites: Founded in 1982 by Bert Rutan, the designer of the experimental aircraft. The once small company is now owned by Northrop Grumman, which builds the SpaceShipTwo.
From Stan Space Systems: The space startup that won last November the million dollar prize of the challenging competition to build a lunar lander, expects to launch an unmanned cargo carrier into a subsatellite orbit by the end of next year.
Armadillo AeroSpace: The space company of John Carmack, the computer game developer that took second place in the competition to build a lunar lander, intends to put a manned vehicle into subsatellite orbit by next year.
Planetary Society: After a failed launch in 2005, the space association will make a second attempt this year to put the LightSail-1 - an unmanned satellite powered by a solar sail - into satellite orbit.
Bigelow AeroSpace: Billionaire Robert Bigelow's venture has put two unmanned inflatable space hotel prototypes into satellite orbit and plans to launch a habitable version in 2014.
XCOR: The small Californian space company that owns America's first rocket-powered aircraft. It is now developing a reusable two-seat tourist spacecraft for subsatellite orbit called the Lynx.
Blue Origin: Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos' top-secret side project, a bubblegum-shaped spaceship designed for vertical takeoffs and landings, is expected to put people into subsatellite orbit by 2012.
AD Astra Rocket Co: Retired astronaut Franklin Chang Diaz's company plans to test a 200-kilowatt plasma rocket designed for deep space flight on the International Space Station in late 2013.
InterOrbital Systems: The start-up of the couple Roderick and Randa Milliron, builds rockets designed to carry satellites into orbit in space; First launch expected this year.
Arca: The Romanian association is building a subsatellite vehicle called Stabilo. A balloon will raise the aircraft to an altitude of 22,000 m and then a traction motor will propel the manned spacecraft into space.
The Da Vinci Project: - The Canadian company DreamSpace Group plans to unveil a single-seater aircraft for subsatellite flight this year. After that, the company is planning an aircraft designed for three passengers by 2012.
Space Adventures: Instead of building shuttles and rockets, the group serves as a travel agent for flights to the International Space Station aboard the Russian Soyuz.
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to the elk Is El Al competing with Boeing?
How can it be? Aren't these two competing companies? (In the field of privately funded space flights?)
Designed and built by Brett Rutan, paid for and commissioned by Richard Branson
Were the "White Knight" and "Spaceship 2" aircraft designed and built by Brett Rutan of Scaled Composites?
Or Richard Branson from Virgin Galactic?
What is subsatellite flight?
In the end, there is one company on the list that is in the national league in terms of providing an answer to NASA and that is SpaceX, and they also need a lot more time and money to produce safe manned flights. But despite this, on the civilian level, the space tourism industry contributes skin and sinew with Virgin Galactic.