The Private Sector Is Making Space More Appealing and Affordable

Some may recall the old Chevrolet jingle:
 
See the USA in your Chevrolet, America is asking you to call.
Drive the USA in your Chevrolet, America’s the greatest land of all.
 
The world has moved on, in part due to the entry of the private sector in space travel. In another decade or so the jingle may be:
 
See the Milky Way from your rocket’s bay, the universe is begging you to try.
Fly the Milky Way, you know the way, the stars are calling you to travel high.
 
The potential for space tourism, which a handful of hardy (and wealthy) souls have already undertaken, is upon us because of private sector innovation that has dramatically lowered the per-pound cost of leaving the earth.
 
According to data from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (in a graphic prepared by the Visual Capitalist), the cost of putting a payload into low-earth orbit has dropped dramatically.
 

 
The primary reason for declining costs is private sector competition. Between SpaceX, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic, just to name a few of the most visible companies, several of the world’s most innovative entrepreneurs are striving to make space flight safe, available and, if not cheap, at least a lot less expensive.
 
It’s a welcome change from when the federal government was in total control of space travel and exploration.
 
NBC reported last year, “NASA’s space shuttles, which were retired in 2011, cost an average of $1.6 billion per flight, or nearly $30,000 per pound of payload (in 2021 dollars) to reach low-Earth orbit, according to an analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Russia’s workhorse Soyuz rockets, on the other hand, can cost anywhere from $53 million to $225 million per launch, working out to more than $8,000 per pound of payload to reach Earth orbit.”
 
However, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket charges about $62 million per launch, which works out to about $1,200 per pound of payload (though SpaceX recently announced a price increase).
 
So get ready. Perhaps you or your children will be able to “see the Milky Way from your rocket’s bay.”