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Private spaceflight is flight above 100 km (62 mi) Earth altitude conducted by and paid for by an entity other than a government. In the early decades of the Space Age, the government space agencies of the Soviet Union and United States pioneered space technology augmented by collaboration with affiliated design bureaus in the USSR and private companies in the US. The European Space Agency was formed in 1975, largely following the same model of space technology development. Later on, large defense contractors began to develop and operate space launch systems, derived from government rockets and commercial satellites. Private spaceflight in Earth orbit includes communications satellites, satellite television, satellite radio, and sub-orbital and orbital space tourism. Recently, entrepreneurs have begun designing and deploying competitive space systems to the national-monopoly governmental systems of the early decades of the space age. Successes to date include flying suborbital spaceplanes and launching lightweight orbital rockets. Planned private spaceflights beyond Earth orbit include solar sailing prototypes, deep space burial and personal spaceflights around the Moon. A private orbital habitat prototype is already in Earth orbit, with larger versions to follow. From Wikipedia under the
GNU Free Documentation License  newscientist.com 518px x 450px | 20.00kB [source page] The first SpaceLoft XL rocket sits on its temporary launch pad before its ill fated flight in September 2006 Image UP Aerospace KRQE  thedigitalbits.com 302px x 500px | 35.70kB [source page] Space Ship One being towed past the crowd on the flightline America s newest astronaut Mike Melvill and his spacecraft  gallery.spaceref.com 480px x 640px | 55.10kB [source page] hi kids lunch time in space too From Yahoo Image Search: "Private spaceflight"  news.google.com Softpedia Some expect that Obama's 2011 budget request will feature recommendations for changes in the development of the US spaceflight program. ... Musk refutes report slamming safety standards Spaceflight Now all 142 news articles » news.google.com Space Ref (press release) CDR Williams & FE-6 Creamer continued their current week-long session of the experiment SLEEP (Sleep-Wake Actigraphy & Light Exposure during Spaceflight ), ... news.google.com Space Ref (press release) Rasteniya-2 researches growth and development of plants under spaceflight conditions in the LADA-16 greenhouse from IBMP (Institute of Bio-Medical Problems, ... From Google News Search: "Private spaceflight" With all the difficulties with NASA and spaceflight, will private enterprise put the next men on the moon? Q. When Burt Rutan and his company Scaled Composites took the X-Prize for reaching space in a privately funded and launched vehicle, they appeared to put NASA on notice that private enterprise may very well have the better solution to space travel. Now there is another prize similar to the X-Prize to challenge private citizens to develop alternative plans for reaching the moon. With all the difficulties NASA has had over the past decade with funding issues, a looming deficit, and constant congressional debates over the worth of an ongoing space program, is it possible that private enterprise will be the next ones to develop a vehicle, launch it to the moon, and land man on the moon again? More important still, is it possible commercial… [cont.] Asked by ldcrone - Sat Jul 8 18:09:15 2006 - - 12 Answers - 0 Comments A. Spaceship One is a very long way from being a viable spacecraft capable of transporting any sort of payload into orbit, let alone the Moon. That being said, it shows what people in the private sector can be capable of. In the future, I think private enterprise will have a huge part of space travel/exploration, with government's involvement in that being limited to oversight and regulation (like the FAA does for air travel). Answered by Harry - Sat Jul 8 18:13:38 2006 Should private spaceflights be allowed to orbit the moon?
Q. What of contamination issues if an accident occurs, bodies littering the surface if there is a crash; recovery?...and its affect upon future manned missions funded by the general public? Asked by Kristina C - Fri Jun 29 16:05:20 2007 - - 10 Answers - 0 Comments A. If a privately funded mission flew around the Moon, who would (or should) stop them? There are always risks in space flight, if we worried that much about accidents, the Apollo program never would have gotten off the ground? If the mission did end in disaster, the remains would not deter future exploration. You can't stop the pioneering spirit. Answered by thoth child - Fri Jun 29 16:11:09 2007 From Yahoo Answer Search: "Private spaceflight" |
