Dubbed “NewSpace”, an increasing number of entrepreneurs are joining in the race to create cheap, commercialised space travel.
Among these are billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Sir Richard Branson, who all made their fortunes in other industries.
Between them, they’re posing a major challenge to established space industry giants.
Fuelled by intense rivalries, their ambitions include the development of space tourism and developing permanent human settlement on the Moon and even Mars.
But emerging space entrepreneurs are also filling a huge void left by governments that have had to cut funding for space missions.
As a result, names like SpaceX and Blue Origin are becoming part of the increasingly lucrative military space race as the US seeks to counter ambitions by China and Russia. By some estimates, the space industry is expected to be worth $1 trillion (£766bn) by 2040.
I – Word Understanding
Fuelled – caused / stimulated
Void – lack of something
Lucrative – profitable
II – Have Your Say
1, Space tourism has come! What do you think of people spending so much money for space tourism? If given a chance, would you like to try space tourism? What are your expectations?
2, Moon or Mars? Blue origin is looking into the possibility of permanent human settlement of the Moon while SpaceX’s ultimate goal is to colonize Mars. Which of the two has better chances? Where would you choose to migrate (if needed)?
3, The USA, China and Russia are dominating the space race. These countries and others spend a lot of money on space exploration. Do you think it is worth all the money?
