Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson each took supersonic joy rides to the edge of space, finally bringing their competing private-sector spacecraft into operation after around two decades of promises. Celebrities such as 90-year-old “Star Trek” actor William Shatner and “Good Morning America” co-host Michael Strahan followed soon after. Another billionaire self-funded a historic, three-day mission aboard a SpaceX orbital capsule that flew higher than any human has traveled in decades.
And all that promises to just be the beginning.
The trio of space billionaires — Branson, Bezos and Elon Musk — have their eyes set squarely on the future. Over the past year, their visions continued to bump up against one another, stirring up plenty of controversy and one-upmanship.
Here’s a look back at some of the most memorable moments the commercial space industry had to offer in the last year.
Branson v. Bezos
Branson’s and Bezos’ space companies have for years been working to develop spacecraft capable of taking paying customers on brief, supersonic trips to the edge of space, promising to usher in an age in which booking a flight to view the Earth from space is as easy as jetting across the Atlantic. (Musk’s SpaceX, it should be noted, is not in the suborbital tourism game. Its rockets and spacecraft take much longer and more dangerous treks into Earth’s orbit.)
We’re not quite there yet. But both billionaires pledged to kick off their respective suborbital space tourism businesses by taking the rides themselves, both as a show of their confidence in their vehicles’ safety and some strategic PR.
Source : cnn
