A new generation of entrepreneurs - sprung from the high-risk, high-tech culture of Silicon Valley - is launching private, for-profit ventures to open up space for tourism, transportation, rapid earth imaging and even mining the moon. It's a far cry from the early days of space exploration, where NASA led the way, culminating in Neil Armstrong's first bold steps on the moon in July 1969.
Companies such as Virgin Galactic, which bills itself as the world's first commercial spaceliner, and rocket maker SpaceX, which in 2012 became the first private company to deliver cargo to the International Space Station, are rapidly creating new commercial opportunities in an arena long believed to be out of reach to private companies.
But opening up space to lucrative, ambitious commercial ventures carries not only rewards, but also risks.
On October 31, Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo crashed during a test flight 25 miles north of the Mojave Air and Space Port, killing one of the two pilots.
“Space is hard and today was a tough day,” said Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides at a press conference held a few hours later. "Our future rests in many ways on hard days like this, but we believe we owe it to the folks who were flying these vehicles as well as the folks who have been working so hard on them to understand this and move forward," he said.