Tip Center Category: Commercial Space Flight

Space Services Inc. Already Ahead of the Private Space Exploration Curve

The preponderance of corporations dedicated to commercial space flight make it clear that once everything kicks into high gear, the field will be extremely competitive. One such company that stands to move farther and faster than others is Space Services Inc. (SSI), which has maintained a foothold in private space exploration for almost 30 years.

SSI’s head start began in 1982, with its launch of the first ever privately funded rocket, the Conestoga, and continues to this day with regularly scheduled launches. SSI, in a partnership with Celestis, flies portions of cremated remains into outer space in symbolic space burials.

Also a leader in the star naming business, SSI operates with Name a Star Live to provide discerning shoppers the answer to where to buy a star and get the most for their money. Offering a unique experience not offered by similar companies, every star name and dedication message is launched into outer space aboard a rocket.

Encouraging Progress Through Competition: The X PRIZE

The X PRIZE Foundation was formed in 1996 by Peter Diamandis, a Harvard Medical School graduate who founded several space-travel related companies, including the Zero Gravity Corporation, which for $5000 offers clients “weightless flights” aboard an airplane performing parabolic arcs to simulate a zero gravity environment.

The idea to create the X PRIZE Foundation originally came to Diamandis when he read Charles Lindbergh’s autobiography The Spirit of St. Louis, which, according to Diamandis “told the tale of Lindbergh crossing the Atlantic to win the $25,000 Orteig Prize. I had no idea his motivation was a prize – and suddenly, my path was clear.”

Diamandis was emboldened to pursue the idea of creating a nonprofit organization that would offer large cash incentives for the production of break-through technologies in the field of private space flight. The first prize, the Ansari X PRIZE, was awarded to Tier One, a collaboration between aerospace engineer Burt Rutan and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, which resulted in the craft SpaceShipOne.

The X PRIZE Foundation has gone on to award other prizes for breakthrough work, including the Google Lunar X PRIZE which is offering $20 million to the first privately-funded moon landing.

Determining NASA’s Place in Tomorrow’s Space Travel

A recent publication in the Wall Street Journal by 13 former NASA astronauts, including Buzz Aldrin, provided possibly the strongest endorsement for the development of the commercial space flight industry. Their endorsement comes at an opportune time, and carries great credibility. Who better to give their opinion on the matter than some of the very people who have already been to outer space and back?

In their editorial, the astronauts bolstered the findings of the Augustine Committee, which strongly supports the involvement of private companies in providing astronauts access to low-Earth orbit, leaving NASA free to explore advancements in deep space travel.

These announcements, along with astronaut Sally Ride’s statement, “We would like to be able to get NASA out of the business of getting people to low Earth orbit," are music to the ears of space enthusiasts the world over. They see the involvement of the commercial sector and private space flight as a means of re-invigorating the explorative spirit that led to the Moon landing 40 years ago.

How Commercial Satellites are Paving the Way for Private Space Exploration

The idea for using satellites as a means of telecommunication is not a new concept. An article by David J. Whalen points out that in 1945, a then little-known Arthur C. Clarke penned an article for Wireless World magazine, where he made what is thought to be the first suggestion to broadcast TV via satellite. Although it wasn’t until many years later that Clarke’s original idea was realized, it was a visionary prediction that has proved even more versatile than the science fiction author himself could have imagined.

By 1962, just five years after Sputnik 1 became the first satellite in human history, AT&T became the first company to explore the use of satellite technology for commercial purposes with their Telstar satellite. Nearly half a century later, commercial launches of satellites for cell phones, radio, internet, and GPS navigation devices is commonplace.

Today, private space flight and exploration is poised at about the same place telecommunications satellite launches were 50 years ago—a function originally carried out and funded by the government, but soon overtaken and improved upon by the commercial sector. This encouraging comparison bodes well for those companies who are spearheading the private space exploration movement.

Insuring the Uninsurable

One of the biggest issues facing all private space companies interested in pioneering commercial space flight and space tourism is liability and insurance. Although the likelihood is low that space tourism will become widely available in the next 10 or 20 years, the hurdle still exists.

According to an article in Business Insurance, the fact that space tourism is not yet common has led to a lot of speculation on whether or not private space flight companies would even be able to afford the insurance necessary to cover their clientele. This is especially true when one considers that during the early years of space tourism, most of, if not all, the passengers are likely to be extremely wealthy.

The high cost of insurance is likely to keep ticket prices extremely high during the first few years of space tourism, an unfortunate reality that Jeffrey Poliseno, CEO of International Space Brokers Inc., claims will not last forever: “Ultimately, when space tourism becomes routine, (insurers) are going to be very large supporters of it.”

Those waiting patiently on the sidelines for the inevitable historic leap that will be undertaken with space tourism can only keep their fingers crossed… and save their pennies.