Space Review Looks at Space Commercialization and Voyages Beyond LEO

Falcon 9 takes off on its first flight. (Credit: Chris Thompson SpaceX)

In the Space Review this week:

Making the path for human spaceflight less rocky
The administration’s new plan for NASA had led to a debate about destinations, in particular the Moon versus near Earth objects. Dan Lester argues that the real issues revolve around the development of human spaceflight capabilities and the meaning of “space exploration”.

SpaceShipOne, government one?
Six years ago today SpaceShipOne made history by being the first commercial manned vehicle to fly into space, a milestone seized by many as a triumph for the private sector over the government. Jeff Foust discusses why, today, the public and private sectors need to cooperate, not compete, in this aspect of spaceflight.

Individuals pick up the space development torch
The achievement of Elon Musk’s SpaceX launching Falcon 9 outshines recent efforts by Korea, India, and the United States. Sam Dinkin analyzes the implications of this transition.

Review: Live TV From the Moon
Today we take live video coverage of space missions for granted, but in the 1960s such TV coverage was a challenge for more than technical reasons. Jeff Foust reviews a book that examines the effort to take live television to the Moon with the Apollo missions.