民营航天

  关于付费式商业太空旅游，请见「太空游客」。关于对地外空间总体意义上的商业开发和用途，请见「太空商业化」。

民营航天、私人航天或商业航天（英語：Private spaceflight）是由官方政府机构以外的实体所进行的对航天科技以及空间应用技术的开发和利用。

在人类进入航天时代最初的几十年里，美苏两国政府的航天机构就曾分别与各自国内的设计局和私营公司展开过合作，通过对上述实体的资金补助等手段来支持航天新技术的开发和运营成本。其后于1975年成立的欧洲空间局（ESA）也大致效仿美苏而遵循类似的空间技术发展模式^[1]。但成立于1980年的阿丽亚娜空间公司却先于美苏成为全球首家商业航天发射服务的提供商^[2][3]，其后各国的大型国防承包商开始根据承接自政府机构的航天技术开发并运营各自的运载火箭系统。

目前为止，地球轨道上的私人航天产业包括通信卫星系统、卫星电视、卫星广播、航天员天地往返运输以及亚轨道和轨道级的太空旅游。在美国，联邦航空管理局甚至设立了一项名为“商业航天员”（英語：Commercial Astronaut）的新职业^[1]。

进入新世纪以来，民营航天企业家们开始有计划地设计并发展相关航天技术，以预期在2010年代左右可研制与冷战时代政府研发的运载火箭^[4][5]技术相当的运载系统并将之投入使用^[6][7]:7，这些新产业于2010年之后在商业航天发射领域的市场带来了巨大的竞争角逐，其中主要的竞争点之一是通过降低单次火箭的发射成本以提供更多的发射能力^[8]。

现今私人航天飞行的主要成就包括：亚轨道太空飞机的飞行（太空船1号和2号）^[9]、轨道级火箭的发射、充气式可扩展空间站试验舱段的在轨测试（创世纪1号、2号和BEAM试验舱）^[10]，以及将宇航员成功送往空间站。

历史

已隱藏部分未翻譯内容，歡迎參與翻譯。

参见：Timeline of private spaceflight

During the principal period of spaceflight in the mid-twentieth century, only nation states developed and flew spacecraft above the Kármán line, the nominal boundary of space. Both the U.S. civilian space program and Soviet space program were operated using mainly military pilots as astronauts. During this period, no commercial space launches were available to private operators, and no private organization was able to offer space launches. Eventually, private organizations were able to both offer and purchase space launches, thus beginning the period of private spaceflight.

The first phase of private space operation was the launch of the first commercial communications satellites. The U.S. Communications Satellite Act of 1962 allowed commercial consortia owning and operating their own satellites, although these were still deployed on state-owned launch vehicles.

In 1980, the European Space Agency created Arianespace, a company to be operated commercially after initial hardware and launch facilities were developed with government funding.^[11] Arianespace has since launched numerous satellites as a commercial entity.^[12]

The history of full private space transportation includes early efforts by German company OTRAG in the 20th century. Founded in 1975 as the first private company to attempt to launch a private spacecraft,^[13] testing of its OTRAG rocket^[14] began in 1977.^[15] The history also covers numerous modern orbital and suborbital launch systems in the 21st century. More recent commercial spaceflight projects include the suborbital flights of Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin, the orbital flights of SpaceX and other COTS participants.

Development of alternatives to government-provided space launch services began in earnest in the 2000s. Private interests began funding limited development programs, but the US government later sponsored a series of programs to incentivize and encourage private companies to begin offering both cargo, and later, crew space transportation services.

Lower prices for launch services after 2010, and published prices for standard launch services, have brought about significant space launch market competition that had not been present previously.^{[16][17][18][19][5]} By 2012, a private company had begun transporting cargo to and from the International Space Station, while a second private company was scheduled to begin making deliveries in 2013, ushering in a time of regular private space cargo delivery to and return from the government-owned space facility in low Earth orbit (LEO).^[20] In this new paradigm for LEO cargo transport, the government contracts for and pays for cargo services on substantially privately developed space vehicles rather than the government operating each of the cargo vehicles and cargo delivery systems. 截至2013年 (2013-Missing required parameter 1=month!)^[update], there is a mix of private and government resupply vehicles being used for the ISS, as the Russian Soyuz and Progress vehicles, and the European Space Agency (ESA) ATV (through 2014) and the Japanese Kounotori (through 2021) remain in operation after the 2011 retirement of the US Space Shuttle.

In June 2013, British newspaper The Independent claimed that "the space race is flaring back into life, and it's not massive institutions such as NASA that are in the running. The old view that human space flight is so complex, difficult and expensive that only huge government agencies could hope to accomplish it is being disproved by a new breed of flamboyant space privateers, who are planning to send humans out beyond the Earth's orbit for the first time since 1972,"^[21] particularly noting projects underway by Mars One, Inspiration Mars Foundation, Bigelow Aerospace and SpaceX.^[21]

American deregulation

Template:POV check The Commercial Space Launch Act of 1984 required encouragement of commercial space ventures, adding a new clause to NASA's mission statement:

(c) Commercial Use of Space.--Congress declares that the general welfare of the United States requires that the Administration seek and encourage, to the maximum extent possible, the fullest commercial use of space.

Yet one of NASA's early actions was to effectively prevent private space flight through a large amount of regulation. From the beginning, though, this met significant opposition not only by the private sector, but in Congress. In 1962, Congress passed its first law pushing back the prohibition on private involvement in space, the Communications Satellite Act of 1962. While largely focusing on the satellites of its namesake, this was described by both the law's opponents and advocates of private space, as the first step on the road to privatisation.

While launch vehicles were originally bought from private contractors, from the beginning of the Shuttle program until the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986, NASA attempted to position its shuttle as the sole legal space launch option.^[22] But with the mid-launch explosion/loss of Challenger came the suspension of the government-operated shuttle flights, allowing the formation of a commercial launch industry.^[23]

On 4 July 1982, the Reagan administration released National Security Decision Directive Number 42 which officially set its goal to expand United States private-sector investment and involvement in civil space and space-related activities.^[24]

On 16 May 1983, the Reagan administration issued National Security Decision Directive Number 94 encouraging the commercialization of ELV’s, which directed that, "The U.S. Government will license, supervise, and/or regulate U.S. commercial ELV operations only to the extent required to meet its national and international obligations and to ensure public safety."^[25]

On 30 October 1984, US President Ronald Reagan signed into law the Commercial Space Launch Act.^[26] This enabled an American industry of private operators of expendable launch systems. Prior to the signing of this law, all commercial satellite launches in the United States were restricted by Federal regulation to NASA's Space Shuttle.

On 11 February 1988, the Presidential Directive declared that the government should purchase commercially available space goods and services to the fullest extent feasible and shall not conduct activities with potential commercial applications that preclude or deter Commercial Sector space activities except for national security or public safety reasons. ^[27]

On 5 November 1990, United States President George H. W. Bush signed into law the Launch Services Purchase Act.^[28] The Act, in a complete reversal of the earlier Space Shuttle monopoly, ordered NASA to purchase launch services for its primary payloads from commercial providers whenever such services are required in the course of its activities.

In 1996, the United States government selected Lockheed Martin and Boeing to each develop Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles (EELV) to compete for launch contracts and provide assured access to space. The government's acquisition strategy relied on the strong commercial viability of both vehicles to lower unit costs. This anticipated market demand did not materialise, but both the Delta IV and Atlas V EELVs remain in active service.

Commercial launches outnumbered government launches at the Eastern Range in 1997.^[29]

The Commercial Space Act was passed in 1998 and implements many of the provisions of the Launch Services Purchase Act of 1990.^[30]

Nonetheless, until 2004 NASA kept private space flight effectively illegal.^[31] But that year, the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act of 2004 required that NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration legalise private space flight.^[32] The 2004 Act also specified a "learning period" which restricted the ability of the FAA to enact regulations regarding the safety of people who might actually fly on commercial spacecraft through 2012, ostensibly because spaceflight participants would share the risk of flight through informed consent procedures of human spaceflight risks, while requiring the launch provider to be legally liable for potential losses to uninvolved persons and structures.^[33]

To the end of 2014, commercial passenger flights in space has remained effectively illegal, as the FAA has refused to give a commercial operator's license to any private space company.^[34]

The United States updated US commercial space legislation with the passage of the SPACE Act of 2015 in November 2015.^[35] The full name of the act is Spurring Private Aerospace Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship Act of 2015

The update US law explicitly allows "US citizens to engage in the commercial exploration and exploitation of 'space resources' [including... water and minerals]". The right does not extend to biological life, so anything that is alive may not be exploited commercially.^[36] The Act further asserts that "the United States does not [(by this Act)] assert sovereignty, or sovereign or exclusive rights or jurisdiction over, or the ownership of, any celestial body". ^[36]

The SPACE Act includes the extension of indemnification of US launch providers for extraordinary catastrophic third-party losses of a failed launch through 2025, while the previous indemnification law was scheduled to expire in 2016. The Act also extends, through 2025, the "learning period" restrictions which limit the ability of the FAA to enact regulations regarding the safety of spaceflight participants.^[33]

Indemnification for extraordinary third-party losses has, as of 2015, been a component of US space law for over 25 years, and during this time, "has never been invoked in any commercial launch mishap".^[33]

Russian privatization

主条目：Space industry of Russia

In 1992, a Resurs-500 capsule containing gifts was launched from Plesetsk Cosmodrome in a private spaceflight called Europe-America 500. The flight was conceived by the Russian Foundation for Social Inventions and TsSKB-Progress, a Russian rocket-building company, to increase trade between Russia and USA, and to promote the use of technology once reserved only for military forces. Money for the launch was raised from a collection of Russian companies. The capsule parachuted into the Pacific Ocean and was brought to Seattle by a Russian missile-tracking ship.

The Russian government sold part of its stake in RSC Energia to private investors in 1994. Energia, together with Khrunichev, constituted most of the Russian crewed space program.^{[來源請求][需要更新]}

Launch alliances

 

Launch of a Proton rocket

Since 1995 Khrunichev's Proton rocket has been marketed through International Launch Services, while the Soyuz rocket is marketed via Starsem. The Sea Launch project flies the Ukrainian Zenit rocket.

In 2003, Arianespace joined with Boeing Launch Services and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to create the Launch Services Alliance. In 2005, continued weak commercial demand for EELV launches drove Lockheed Martin and Boeing to propose a joint venture called the United Launch Alliance to service the United States government launch market.^[37]

Spaceflight privatization

Since the 1980s, various private initiatives have started up to pursue the private use of space. Traditional costs to launch anything to space have been high—on the order of tens of thousands of US dollars per kilogram—but by 2020, costs on the order of a few thousand dollars per kilogram are being seen from one private launch provider that was an early 2000s startup, with the cost projected to fall to less than a few hundred dollars per kilogram as the technology of a second private spaceflight startup of ~2000 comes into service.^[8]

The first privately funded rocket to reach the boundary of space, the Kármán line, (although not orbit) was Conestoga I, which was launched by Space Services Inc. on a suborbital flight to 309公里（192英里） altitude on 9 September 1982.^[38][39] In October 1995, their first (and only) attempt at an orbital launch, Conestoga 1620, failed to achieve orbit due to a guidance system failure.^[40]

 

First launch of the Pegasus rocket, from a NASA-owned B-52.

On April 5, 1990, Orbital Sciences Corporation's Pegasus, an air launched rocket, was the first launch vehicle fully developed by a private company to reach orbit.^[41]

In the early 2000s, several public-private corporate partnerships were established in the United States to privately develop spaceflight technology. Several purely private initiatives have shown interest in private endeavors to the inner Solar System.^[42]

In 2006, NASA initiated a program to purchase commercial space transport to carry cargo to the International Space Station, while funding a portion of the development of new technology in a public-private partnership.^[7]:10

In May 2015, the Japanese legislature considered legislation to allow private company spaceflight initiatives in Japan.^[43]

In 2016, the United States granted its first clearance for a private flight to the moon, from the FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation.^[44]

On 30 May 2020, Crew Dragon Demo-2 operated by Space X became the first crewed mission to the International Space Station in the Commercial Crew Program.

After 2015, European-based private small-lift launch vehicle development got underway, particularly in Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom, but "France has largely been left out of this new commercial launch industry".^[45] In 2021, the Government of France announced a plan to fund the "France-based rocket firm ArianeGroup to develop a new small-lift rocket called Maïa by the year 2026,"^[45] which would be a government-funded but commercially-developed rocket.

商业航天实体

主条目：List of private spaceflight companies

Today many commercial space transportation companies offer launch services to satellite companies and government space organizations around the world. In 2005, there were 18 total commercial launches and 37 non-commercial launches. Russia flew 44% of commercial orbital launches, while Europe had 28% and the United States had 6%.^[46] China's first private launch, a suborbital flight by OneSpace, took place in May 2018.^[47]

Funding

In recent years, the funding to support private spaceflight has begun to be raised from a larger pool of sources than the comparatively limited pool of the 1990s. For example, 截至2013年6月 (2013-06)^[update] and in the United States alone, ten billionaires had made "serious investments in private spaceflight activities"^[48] at six companies, including Stratolaunch Systems, Planetary Resources, Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic, SpaceX, and Bigelow Aerospace. The ten investors were Paul Allen, Larry Page, Eric Schmidt, Ram Shriram, Charles Simonyi, Ross Perot Jr., Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, Elon Musk, and Robert Bigelow.^{[來源請求]}

At the start of the private space era it was not yet clear to what extent these entrepreneurs see "legitimate business opportunity, [for example], space tourism and other commercial activities in space, or [are] wealthy men seeking the exclusivity that space offers innovators and investors."^[48] There has been speculation as to whether these investments are a "gamble", and whether they will prove lucrative.^[48]

As of the early 2020's some of these investments have paid off, with Musk's SpaceX coming to dominate the launch market in mass to orbit and with a $100 billion dollar valuation.^[49][50] Other companies such as Bigelow Aerospace have though collapsed and left the market.^[51] Many startup space companies such as Rocket Lab and Axiom Space have launched on the stock market for funding as Special-purpose acquisition company, but their SPAC values have been affected by market volatility.^[52]

Venture capital investment

Some investors see the traditional spaceflight industry as ripe for disruption, with "a 100-fold improvement [relatively straightforward and] a thousand-fold improvement [possible]".^[53] Between 2005 and 2015, there was 10 billion美元 of private capital invested in the space sector,^[54] most of it in the United States. This liberalized private space sector investments beginning in the 1980s,^[26] with additional legislative reforms in the 1990s–2000s.^[23][30][32] From 2000 through the end of 2015, a total of 13.3 billion美元 of investment finance was invested in the space sector, with 2.9 billion美元 of that being venture capital.^[55] In 2015, venture capital firms invested 1.8 billion美元 in private spaceflight companies, more than they had in the previous 15 years combined.^[55] 截至2015年10月 (2015-10)^[update], the largest and most active investors in space were Lux Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, Khosla Ventures, Founders Fund, RRE Ventures and Draper Fisher Jurvetson.^[54]

Increasing interest by investors in economically driven spaceflight had begun to appear by 2016, and some space ventures had to turn away investor funding.^[53] CBInsights in August 2016 published that funding to space startups was "in a slump", although the number of space investment deals per quarter had gone from 2 or 3 in 2012 to 14 by 2015.^[56] In 2017, CB Insights ranked the most active space tech investors, ranked from highest to lowest, were Space Angels Networks, Founders Fund, RRE Ventures, Data Collective, Bessemer, Lux Capital, Alphabet, Tencent Holdings, and Rothenberg Ventures.^[57] In June 2019, Miriam Kramer of Axios wrote that private spaceflight companies and investors were poised to capitalize on NASA's plan to open up the International Space Station to commercial space ventures.^[58]

Commercial launchers

主条目：Space transport

The space transport business has, historically, had its primary customers in national governments and large commercial segments. Launches of government payloads, including military, civilian and scientific satellites, was the largest market segment in 2007 at nearly $100 billion a year. This segment is dominated by domestic favorites such as the United Launch Alliance for U.S. government payloads and Arianespace for European satellites. The commercial payload segment, valued at under $3 billion a year, was dominated by Arianespace in 2007, with over 50% of the market segment,^[59] followed by Russian launchers. See a complete list of launch systems.

Spaceflight, Inc. operates as a launch broker, matching small-payload customers with launch providers in a "ridesharing" service.

US government commercial cargo services

 

The SpaceX Dragon berthing with the ISS during its final demonstration mission, on 25 May 2012.

主条目：Commercial Orbital Transportation Services

The US government determined to begin a process to purchase orbital launch services for cargo deliveries to the International Space Station (ISS) beginning in the mid-2000s, rather than operate the launch and delivery services as they had with the Space Shuttle, which was to retire in less than half a decade, and ultimately did retire in 2011. On 18 January 2006, NASA announced an opportunity for US commercial providers to demonstrate orbital transportation services.^[60] As of 2008, NASA planned to spend $500 million through 2010 to finance development of private sector capability to transport payloads to the International Space Station (ISS).^{[需要更新]} This was considered more challenging than then-available commercial space transportation because it would require precision orbit insertion, rendezvous and possibly docking with another spacecraft. The commercial vendors competed in specific service areas.^[61]

In August 2006, NASA announced that two relatively young aerospace companies, SpaceX and Rocketplane Kistler, had been awarded $278 million and $207 million, respectively, under the COTS program.^[62] In 2008, NASA anticipated that commercial cargo delivery services to and return services from the ISS would be necessary through at least 2015. The NASA Administrator suggested that space transportation services procurement may be expanded to orbital fuel depots and lunar surface deliveries should the first phase of COTS prove successful.^[63]

After it transpired that Rocketplane Kistler was failing to meet its contractual deadlines, NASA terminated its contract with the company in August 2008, after only $32 million had been spent. Several months later, in December 2008, NASA awarded the remaining $170 million in that contract to Orbital Sciences Corporation to develop resupply services to the ISS.^[64]

Emerging personal spaceflight

主条目：Space tourism

参见：Billionaire space race

Before 2004, the year it was legalized in the US, no privately operated crewed spaceflight had ever occurred. The only private individuals to journey to space went as space tourists in the Space Shuttle or on Russian Soyuz flights to Mir or the International Space Station.

All private individuals who flew to space before Dennis Tito's self-financed International Space Station visit in 2001 had been sponsored by their home governments or by private corporations.^[65] Those trips include US Congressman Bill Nelson's January 1986 flight on the Space Shuttle Columbia and Japanese television reporter Toyohiro Akiyama's 1990 flight to the Mir Space Station.

The Ansari X PRIZE was intended to stimulate private investment in the development of spaceflight technologies. 21 June 2004, test flight of SpaceShipOne, a contender for the X PRIZE, was the first human spaceflight in a privately developed and operated vehicle.

On 27 September 2004, following the success of SpaceShipOne, Richard Branson, owner of Virgin and Burt Rutan, SpaceShipOne's designer, announced that Virgin Galactic had licensed the craft's technology, and were planning commercial space flights in 2.5 to 3 years. A fleet of five craft (SpaceShipTwo, launched from the WhiteKnightTwo carrier airplane) were to be constructed, and flights would be offered at around $200,000 each, although Branson said he planned to use this money to make flights more affordable in the long term. A test flight of SpaceShipTwo in October 2014 resulted in a crash during one of the two pilots died.^[66]

In December 2004, United States President George W. Bush signed into law the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act.^[67] The Act resolved the regulatory ambiguity surrounding private spaceflights and is designed to promote the development of the emerging U.S. commercial human space flight industry.

On 12 July 2006, Bigelow Aerospace launched the Genesis I, a subscale pathfinder of an orbital space station module. Genesis II was launched on 28 June 2007, and there are plans for additional prototypes to be launched in preparation for the production model BA 330 spacecraft.^{[需要更新]}

Zero2infinity, a Spanish aerospace company, is developing a high-altitude balloon-based launch vehicle termed a bloostar to launch small satellites to orbit for customers, as well as platform for near-space tourism.^[68] World View, a stratospheric balloon exploration company based in Tucson, Ariz., is similarly leveraging its stratospheric balloon technology to launch its remote sensing services^[69] for government and commercial customers, as well as developing its own space tourism offering that would lift passengers up to 100,000 feet for a 6-8 journey.^[70] Similar projects of stratospheric balloon tourism are being developed by multiple other companies around the world (Zephalto,^[71] Space Perspective,^[72] ...), though none has yet made a high altitude crewed flight (as of Feb. 2021).

On July 11, 2021, Richard Branson and Virgin Galactic made the first successful flight to space.^[73]

On July 20, 2021, Jeff Bezos and Blue Origin also made a successful flight to space.^[74]

On September 16, 2021, Crew Dragon Resilience Inspiration4 mission operated by Space X became the first orbital spaceflight with only private citizens aboard.

Private foundations

The B612 Foundation was^[75] designing and building an asteroid-finding space telescope named Sentinel.^[76] It would have launched in 2016.^[77]

The Planetary Society, a nonprofit space research and advocacy organization, has sponsored a series of small satellites to test the feasibility of solar sailing. Their first such project, Cosmos 1, was launched in 2005 but failed to reach space, and was succeeded by the Lightsail series, the first of which launched on 20 May 2015. A second spacecraft is expected to launch in 2016 on a more complex mission.^[78]

Copenhagen Suborbitals is a crowd funded amateur crewed space programme. 截至2016年 (2016-Missing required parameter 1=month!)^[update] it has flown four home-built rockets and two mock-up space capsules.

发展计划

Many have speculated on where private spaceflight may go in the near future. Numerous projects of orbital and suborbital launch systems for satellites and crewed flights exist. Some orbital crewed missions would be state-sponsored like most COTS participants. (that develop their own launch systems). Another possibility is for paid suborbital tourism on craft like those from Virgin Galactic, Space Adventures, XCOR Aerospace, RocketShip Tours, ARCASPACE, PlanetSpace-Canadian Arrow, British Starchaser Industries or non-commercial like Copenhagen Suborbitals. Additionally, suborbital spacecraft have applications for faster intercontinental package delivery and passenger flight.

Private orbital spaceflight, space stations

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, first launched in 2010 with no passengers,^[79] was designed to be subsequently human-rated. The Atlas V launch vehicle is also a contender for human-rating.

Plans and a full-scale prototype for the SpaceX Dragon, a capsule capable of carrying up to seven passengers, were announced in March 2006,^[80] and Dragon version 2 flight hardware was unveiled in May 2014.^[81] 截至2014年9月 (2014-09)^[update], both SpaceX and Boeing have received contracts from NASA to complete building, testing, and flying up to six flights of human-rated space capsules to the International Space Station beginning in 2017.^[82]

In December 2010, SpaceX launched the second Falcon 9 and the first operational Dragon spacecraft. The mission was deemed fully successful, marking the first launch to space, atmospheric reentry and recovery of a capsule by a private company. Subsequent COTS missions included increasingly complex orbital tasks, culminating in Dragon first docking to the ISS in 2012.

Bigelow Aerospace develops BA 330 module (based on the former NASA TransHab design) intended to be used for activities like microgravity research, space manufacturing, and space tourism with modules serving as orbital "hotels". To promote private crewed launch efforts, Bigelow offered the US$50 million America's Space Prize for the first US-based privately funded team to launch a crewed reusable spacecraft to orbit on or before 10 January 2010; such feat is yet to be achieved 截至2018年12月 (2018-12)^[update].

The British Government partnered in 2015 with the ESA to promote a possibly commercial single-stage to orbit spaceplane concept called Skylon.^[83] This design was pioneered by the privately held Reaction Engines Limited,^[84][85] a company founded by Alan Bond after HOTOL was canceled.^[86]

As of 2012, private company NanoRacks provides commercial access to the US National Laboratory space on the International Space Station (ISS). Science experiments can be conducted on a variety of standard rack-sized experimental platforms, with standard interfaces for power and data acquisition.^[87]

SpaceX announced that Japanese entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa will launch with the dearMoon crew in 2023 to become to first civilian on a lunar Starship mission.^[88][89]

On-orbit propellant depots

主条目：Propellant depot

In a presentation given 15 November 2005 to the 52nd Annual Conference of the American Astronautical Society, NASA Administrator Michael D. Griffin suggested that establishing an on-orbit propellant depot is, "Exactly the type of enterprise which should be left to industry and to the marketplace."^[90] At the Space Technology and Applications International Forum in 2007, Dallas Bienhoff of Boeing made a presentation detailing the benefits of propellant depots.^[91] Shackleton Energy Company has established operational plans, an extensive teaming and industrial consortium for developing LEO Propellant Depots supplied by Lunar polar sourced water ice.^[92]

Asteroid mining

 

Artists impression of an asteroid mining spacecraft

主条目：Asteroid mining

Some have speculated on the profitability of mining metal from asteroids. According to some estimates, a one kilometer-diameter asteroid would contain 30 million tons of nickel, 1.5 million tons of metal cobalt and 7,500tons of platinum; the platinum alone would have a value of more than $150 billion at 2008 terrestrial prices.^[93]

Space elevators

主条目：Space elevator

A space elevator system is a possible launch system, currently under investigation by at least one private venture.^[94] There are concerns over cost, general feasibility and some political issues. On the plus side the potential to scale the system to accommodate traffic would (in theory) be greater than some other alternatives. Some factions contend that a space elevator — if successful — would not supplant existing launch solutions but complement them.

Non-launched efforts

Failed spaceflight ventures

After earlier first effort of OTRAG, in the 1990s the projection of a significant demand for communications satellite launches attracted the development of a number of commercial space launch providers. The launch demand largely vanished when some of the largest satellite constellations, such as 288 satellite Teledesic network, were never built.

 

Lockheed Martin VentureStar

In 1996, NASA selected Lockheed Martin Skunk Works to build the X-33 VentureStar prototype for a single stage to orbit (SSTO) reusable launch vehicle. In 1999, the subscale X-33 prototype's composite liquid hydrogen fuel tank failed during testing. At project termination on 31 March 2001, NASA had funded US$912 million of this wedge shaped spacecraft while Lockheed Martin financed US$357 million of it.^[95] The VentureStar was to have been a full-scale commercial space transport operated by Lockheed Martin.

In 1997, Beal Aerospace proposed the BA-2, a low-cost heavy-lift commercial launch vehicle. On 4 March 2000, the BA-2 project tested the largest liquid rocket engine built since the Saturn V.^[96] In October 2000, Beal Aerospace ceased operations citing a decision by NASA and the Department of Defense to commit themselves to the development of the competing government-financed EELV program.^[97]

In 1998, Rotary Rocket proposed the Roton, a Single Stage to Orbit (SSTO) piloted Vertical Take-off and Landing (VTOL) space transport.^[98] A full scale Roton Atmospheric Test Vehicle flew three times in 1999. After spending tens of millions of dollars in development the Roton failed to secure launch contracts and Rotary Rocket ceased operations in 2001.

On 28 September 2006, Jim Benson, SpaceDev founder, announced he was founding Benson Space Company with the intention of being first to market with the safest and lowest cost suborbital personal spaceflight launches, using the vertical takeoff and horizontal landing Dream Chaser vehicle based on the NASA HL-20 Personnel Launch System vehicle.^{[需要更新]}

Excalibur Almaz had plans in 2007 to launch a modernized TKS Spacecraft (for Almaz space station), for tourism and other uses. It was to feature the largest window ever on a spacecraft. Their equipment was never launched, and their hangar facility closed in 2016. It is to be converted into an educational exhibit.^[99]

Escape Dynamics operated from 2010 to 2015, with the goal of making single-stage to orbit spaceplanes.^[100]

In December 2012, the Golden Spike Company announced plans to privately transport space exploration participants to the surface of the Moon and return, beginning as early as 2020, for US$750 million per passenger.^[101]

XCOR Aerospace planned to initiate a suborbital commercial spaceflight service with the Lynx rocketplane in 2016 or 2017 at $95,000. The first test flights were to be conducted by 23 pilots from the Axe Apollo Space Academy, were planned for 2015.^{[102][103][104]}

Private space stations

主条目：Bigelow Commercial Space Station

By 2010, Bigelow Aerospace was developing the Next-Generation Commercial Space Station, a private orbital space complex. The space station was to have been constructed of both Sundancer and B330 expandable modules as well as a central docking node, propulsion, solar arrays, and attached crew capsules. Initial launch of space station components was planned for 2014, with portions of the station projected to be available for leased use as early as 2015.^[105] 截至2021年10月 (2021-10)^[update], no launches have taken place.

Lunar private ventures

主条目：Tourism on Moon

Robotic Lunar-surface missions

The following companies and organizations had made initial funded launch commitments for Google Lunar X Prize-related Lunar launches in 2016:

• Moon Express^[106]
• SpaceIL^[107]
• Synergy Moon^[108]
• Team Indus^[109]
• Hakuto (ispace)^[110]

Private Lunar-surface crewed expeditions

• Shackleton Energy Company^[111] intends to undertake human tended lunar prospecting for water ice. If significant reserves of ice are located, they plan to establish a network of "refueling service stations" in low Earth orbit and on the Moon to process and provide fuel and consumables for commercial and government customers. If the prospecting is successful—ice deposits are located, the appropriate legal regime is in place to support commercial development, and the ice can be extracted — Shackleton proposes to establish a fuel-processing operation on the lunar surface and in propellant depots in Low Earth Orbit. Equipment would melt the ice and purify the water, "electrolyze the water into gaseous hydrogen and oxygen, and then condense the gases into liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen and also process them into hydrogen peroxide, all of which could be used as rocket fuels."

Mars exploration

In June 2012, private Dutch non-profit, Mars One, announced a private one-way (no return) human mission to Mars with the aim to establish a permanent human colony on Mars.^[112] The plan was to send a communication satellite and pathfinder lander to the planet by 2016 and, after several stages, land four humans on the Martian surface for permanent settlement in 2023.^[113] A new set of four astronauts would then arrive every two years.^[114]

Mars One has received a variety of criticism, mostly relating to medical,^[115] technical and financial feasibility. There are also unverified claims that Mars One is a scam designed to take as much money as possible from donors, including reality show contestants.^[116][117] Many have criticized the project's US$6 billion budget as being too low to successfully transport humans to Mars, to the point of being delusional.^[118][119] A similar project study by NASA estimated the cost of such a feat at US$100 billion, although that included transporting the astronauts back to Earth. Objections have also been raised regarding the reality TV project associated with the expedition. Given the transient nature of most reality TV ventures, many believe that as viewership declines, funding could significantly decrease, thereby harming the entire expedition. Further, contestants have reported that they were ranked based on their donations and funds raised.^[116][120]

In February 2013, the US nonprofit Inspiration Mars Foundation announced a plan to send a married couple on a 2018 mission to travel to Mars and back to Earth on a 501-day round trip, with no landing planned on Mars.^[121] The mission would have taken advantage of an infrequently occurring free return trajectory—a unique orbit opportunity which occurs only once every fifteen years—and will allow the space capsule to use the smallest possible amount of fuel to get it to Mars and back to Earth. The two-person American crew – a man and a woman – will orbit around Mars at a distance of 100英里（160公里） of the surface.^[122] "If anything goes wrong, the spacecraft should make its own way back to Earth — but with no possibility of any shortcuts home."^[123]

On September 27, 2016, at the 67th annual meeting of the International Astronautical Congress, Elon Musk unveiled substantial details of the Interplanetary Transport System (ITS) design for the transport vehicles—including size, construction material, number and type of engines, thrust, cargo and passenger payload capabilities, on-orbit propellant-tanker refills, representative transit times, etc.—as well as a few details of portions of the Mars-side and Earth-side infrastructure that SpaceX intends to build to support the flight vehicles. In addition, Musk championed a larger systemic vision, a vision for a bottom-up emergent order of other interested parties—whether companies, individuals, or governments—to utilize the new and radically lower-cost transport infrastructure to build up a sustainable human civilization on Mars, potentially, on numerous other locations around the Solar System, by innovating and meeting the demand that such a growing venture would occasion.^[124][125]

In July 2017, SpaceX made public plans for ITS based on a smaller launch vehicle and spacecraft. The new system architecture has "evolved quite a bit" since the November 2016 articulation of the very large "Interplanetary Transport System". A key driver of the new architecture is to make the new system useful for substantial Earth-orbit and cislunar launches so that the new system might pay for itself, in part, through economic spaceflight activities in the near-Earth space zone.^[126][127] The Super Heavy is designed to fulfill the Mars transportation goals while also launching satellites, servicing the ISS, flying humans and cargo to the Moon, and enabling ballistic transport of passengers on Earth as a substitute to long-haul airline flights.^[128]

Since March 2020, SpaceX conducted several test flights of their Starship spacecraft. The Starship is a fully reusable two-stage vehicle designed to take passengers and cargo to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. SpaceX had initially planned to have an orbital-flight in 2021. On Wednesday, May 5, 2021, the twelfth Starship prototype (SN15) made a 10 km suborbital flight and achieved soft landing. SpaceX is currently in the process of improving and understanding the Starship spacecraft.^[88]

参见

•  航天主题

• List of private spaceflight companies
• List of commercial space stations
• Commercial Spaceflight Federation
• Heinlein Prize for Advances in Space Commercialization
• 载人航天
• L5 Society
• X奖基金会

参考文献

1. Circumlunar mission. Space Adventures. [15 February 2015]. （原始内容于12 February 2015）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
2. Jaeger, Ralph-W.; Claudon, Jean-Louis. Ariane — The first commercial space transportation system. Proceedings of the 15th International Symposium on Space Technology and Science 2. Tokyo, Japan: AGNE Publishing, Inc. May 1986 (1986). Bibcode:1986spte.conf.1431J. A87-32276 13-12.  请检查|publication-date=中的日期值 (帮助)
3. . arianespace.com. [7 March 2008]. （原始内容存档于18 February 2008）. 
4. Szondy, David. SpaceX Dragon's ultimate mission is Mars colonization. Gizmag. 5 February 2012 [13 February 2012]. （原始内容于1 October 2012）. For decades after that first launch, space flight was a government monopoly. Even when private companies started going into space in the 1990s, it was only as providers of launch services to send commercial and government satellites into orbit. Now, all that is changing as private enterprise takes over space exploration in a manner not seen since the early days of the Hudson's Bay Company.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
5. Davenport, Christian. The inside story of how billionaires are racing to take you to outer space. Washington Post. 19 August 2016 [20 August 2016]. （原始内容于19 November 2016）. the government’s monopoly on space travel is over  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
6. Oberg, James. Private Spaceflight: Up, Up, and Away. IEEE Spectrum. January 2012 [31 December 2011]. （原始内容于8 January 2012）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
7. Belfiore, Michael. Rocketeers: how a visionary band of business leaders, engineers, and pilots is boldly privatizing space . New York: Smithsonian Books. 2007. ISBN 978-0-06-114903-0.  含有內容需登入查看的頁面 (link)
8. Private space industrialization is here （页面存档备份，存于互联网档案馆）, Mikhail Kokorich, TechCrunch, 18 August 2020, accessed 25 August 2020.
9. Circumlunar mission. Space Adventures. [15 February 2015]. （原始内容于12 February 2015）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
10. Special Announcement. bigelowaerospace.com. [1 April 2008]. （原始内容于31 March 2008）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
11. Engel, Max. Launch Market on Cusp of Change. Satellite Today. 1 March 2013 [15 February 2013]. （原始内容于18 February 2013）. Although some governments funded vehicle development in different ways, there were no vehicles that were not the product of some form of fairly direct governmental support. Even Ariane, the most "commercial" of launch vehicles, was commercial in operation only, not in inception and development, and could easily call on government support when things went wrong.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
12. . Arianespace.com. [14 February 2008]. （原始内容存档于13 January 2008）. 
13. Torchinsky, Jason. SpaceX Was Not The First Private Rocket Company. www.jalopnik.com. May 29, 2012 [2022-08-10]. （原始内容于2022-07-06）. 
14. Space Transportation - Critical Newspaper Article on Shuttle Program. United States Department of State. 1976-07-06 [2010-04-26]. （原始内容于2022-08-10）. 
15. Zuckerman, Ed. Farms on the Asteroids: Hotels on the Moon. www.rollingstone.com. October 19, 1978 [2022-08-10]. （原始内容于2022-11-04）. 
16. Vance, Ashlee. Elon Musk : Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future. New York: HarperCollins. 2015: 15. ISBN 978-0-06-230123-9. 
17. Europe to press ahead with Ariane 6 rocket. BBC News. [25 June 2015]. （原始内容于15 July 2015）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
18. Belfiore, Michael. The Rocketeer. Foreign Policy. 9 December 2013 [11 December 2013]. （原始内容于10 December 2013）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
19. Pasztor, Andy. U.S. Rocket Supplier Looks to Break 'Short Leash'. Wall Street Journal. 17 September 2015 [14 October 2015]. （原始内容于16 October 2015）. The aerospace giants [Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp.] shared almost $500 million in equity profits from the rocket-making venture last year, when it still had a monopoly on the business of blasting the Pentagon's most important satellites into orbit. But since then, 'they've had us on a very short leash', Tory Bruno, United Launch's chief executive, said.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
20. Mann, Adam. The Year's Most Audacious Private Space Exploration Plans. Wired. 27 December 2012 [20 January 2013]. （原始内容于17 January 2013）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
21. Hanlon, Michael. Roll up for the Red Planet. The Telegraph. 11 June 2013 [14 June 2013]. （原始内容于11 April 2015）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
22. Setting Space Transportation Policy for the 1990s (PDF). US Congression Budget Office. 1 October 1986 [14 February 2008]. （原始内容 (PDF)于13 February 2008）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
23. Bromberg, Joan Lisa. NASA and the Space Industry. Johns Hopkins University Press. 1999: 186. ISBN 978-0-8018-6532-9. "On the other hand, NASA resisted the buildup of a commercial launch industry. Launching was for many years an enterprise that was run by a de facto partnership of NASA and the companies from which NASA bought launchers and launch services. NASA proposed to put an end to that enterprise in the 1980s; it sought to enthrone the shuttle as the nation's commercial, as well as government, launcher. The prospect of erecting a private sector launch industry alongside the NASA shuttle was discussed, but it did not become a reality because the shuttle was too tough a competitor for private vehicles. Only the grounding of the shuttle after the Challenger accident allowed the commercial launch industry to get started". 
24. NSDD-42, National Space Policy, July 4, 1982. fas.org. [2022-08-10]. （原始内容于2020-10-19）. 
25. NSDD - National Security Decision Directives - Reagan Administration. fas.org. [2022-08-10]. （原始内容于2016-04-24）. 
26. Statement on Signing the Commercial Space Launch Act. reagan.utexas.edu. [14 February 2008]. （原始内容于27 September 2008）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
27. Presidential Directive on National Space Policy, Feb. 11, 1988. fas.org. [2022-08-10]. （原始内容于2016-04-24）. 
28. $ 2465d. Requirement of US Federal government to procure commercial launch services. space-frontier.org. [14 February 2008]. （原始内容于4 February 2008）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
29. Streamlining Space Launch Range Safety - Executive Summary. National Academy of Sciences. [13 February 2008]. （原始内容于2013-05-18）. 
30. Public Law 105-303: Commercial Space Act of 1998. NASA Office of the General Counsel - Reference (NASA). 28 October 1998 [25 December 2014]. （原始内容于2 February 2015）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
31. It's illegal for private enterprise to go into space. 互联网档案馆的，存档日期1999-02-18.
    U.S. law regulates private space launches, and the current law is quite unreasonable. A private company wanting to build and launch a rocket faces a mountain of red tape and very long lead times for getting approval from the government. However, although these problems add a tremendous amount of cost to private space launches, there are no laws that prohibit private space launches.
32. Private Spaceflight Bill Signed into Law 互联网档案馆的，存档日期31 December 2014.
    The Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act, or H.R. 5382, placed a clear legislative stamp on regulations that were being formulated by the Federal Aviation Administration. Among other provisions, the law was intended to let paying passengers fly on suborbital launch vehicles at their own risk.
33. Foust, Jeff. Congress launches commercial space legislation. The Space Review (Space News). 26 May 2015 [2 June 2015]. （原始内容于27 May 2015）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
34. Wow. FAA Paperwork Delays May Block Virgin Galactic Debut. 互联网档案馆的，存档日期31 December 2014.
35. H.R.2262 – 114th Congress (2015–2016): U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act. congress.gov. 25 November 2015 [30 November 2015]. （原始内容于19 November 2015）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
36. Space Act of 2015: American companies could soon mine asteroids for profit (Wired UK). Wired UK. [30 November 2015]. （原始内容于4 December 2015）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
37. Boeing, Lockheed Martin to Form Launch Services Joint Venture. spaceref.com. [13 February 2008]. （原始内容存档于9 December 2012）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
38. Heritage: Pioneering the Commercial Space Frontier. Space Services Inc. [18 August 2015]. （原始内容于3 August 2015）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
39. Wade, Mark. . Encyclopedia Astronautica. [18 August 2015]. （原始内容存档于10 February 2014）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
40. Tim Furniss, "First Conestoga booster explodes after launch （页面存档备份，存于互联网档案馆）", 31 October 1995, Flightglobal.com. Accessed 1 June 2020
41. . Orbital ATK. [17 June 2016]. （原始内容存档于2016-06-23）. 
42. Pittman, Bruce; Rasky, Dan; Harper, Lynn. Infrastructure Based Exploration – An Affordable Path To Sustainable Space Development (PDF). IAC - 12, D3, 2, 4, x14203: IAC. 2012 [14 October 2014]. （原始内容 (PDF)于26 October 2014）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
43. Private-sector rocket launch legislation eyed. Japan News (Yomiuri Shimbun). 3 June 2015 [5 June 2015]. （原始内容于7 June 2015）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
44. Fingas, Jon. US grants its first clearance for a private flight to the Moon. www.endgadget.com. August 3, 2016. 
45. Berger, Erik. Concerned about SpaceX, France to accelerate reusable rocket plans. Ars Technica. 7 December 2021 [19 December 2021]. （原始内容于2021-12-27）. 
46. Commercial Space Transportation: 2005 Year In Review (PDF). faa.gov. [13 February 2008]. （原始内容 (PDF)于27 February 2008）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
47. Toh, Michelle; Wang, Serenitie. OneSpace launches China's first private rocket. CNN. 17 May 2018 [22 May 2018]. （原始内容于2022-10-13）. 
48. Berger, Eric. Ten billionaires are betting on private spaceflight: Smart or squandered money?. Houston Chronicle. 28 June 2013 [30 June 2013]. （原始内容于1 July 2013）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
49. Ralph, Eric. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket is dominating global orbital launches in 2021. teslarati.com. July 4, 2021 [May 9, 2022]. （原始内容于2022-05-24）. 
50. Howell, Elizabeth. Elon Musk's SpaceX now valued at $100 billion: report. space.com. October 26, 2021 [May 9, 2022]. （原始内容于2022-05-28）. 
51. Foust, Jeff. Bigelow Aerospace lays off entire workforce. spacenews.com. March 23, 2020 [May 9, 2022]. （原始内容存档于2020-03-24）. 
52. Pagan, McCord. Space-Focused SPAC Withdraws Plans For $300M IPO. law360.com. April 29, 2022 [May 9, 2022]. （原始内容于2022-04-30）. 
53. Davenport, Christian. Why investors are following Musk, Bezos in betting on the stars. The Washington Post. 28 January 2016 [20 October 2016]. （原始内容于29 July 2016）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
54. Nordrum, Amy. Space Advocate Makes Business Case For Private Company Exploration Of Extraterrestrial Resources. International Business Times. 9 October 2015 [10 October 2015]. （原始内容于11 October 2015）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
55. VCs Invested More in Space Startups Last Year Than in the Previous 15 Years Combined. Fortune. 22 February 2016 [4 March 2016]. （原始内容于8 March 2016）. The Tauri Group suggests that space startups turned a major corner in 2015, at least in the eyes of venture capital firms that are now piling money into young space companies with unprecedented gusto... he study also found that more than 50 venture capital firms invested in space companies in 2015, signaling that venture capital has warmed to a space industry it has long considered both too risky and too slow to yield returns.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
56. Funding And Deals To Space Startups In A Slump. www.cbinsights.com. August 23, 2016 [2022-08-10]. （原始内容于2022-08-10）. 
57. Betting On The Moon: The Most Active Space Tech Investors. www.cbinsights.com. May 2, 2017 [2022-08-10]. （原始内容于2021-06-22）. 
58. Kramer, Miriam. Private spaceflight companies plan to capitalize on the ISS. www.axios.com. June 18, 2019 [2022-08-10]. （原始内容于2021-12-08）. 
59. Changing Trajectory: French Firms Vaults Ahead in Civilian Rocket Market. The Wall Street Journal (Dow Jones & Company, Inc.). 25 June 2007: A1. 
60. NASA Seeks Proposals for Crew and Cargo Transportation to Orbit. spaceref.com. [11 February 2008]. （原始内容存档于24 December 2006）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
61. . nasa.gov. [13 February 2008]. （原始内容存档于9 October 1999）. 
62. NASA Invests in Private Sector Space Flight with SpaceX, Rocketplane-Kistler. nasa.gov. [14 February 2008]. （原始内容于23 February 2008）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
63. (PDF). nasa.gov. [14 February 2008]. （原始内容 (PDF)存档于27 February 2008）. 
64. NASA Awards Space Station Commercial Resupply Services Contracts. nasa.gov. [24 December 2008]. （原始内容于15 July 2016）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
65. Anatoly Zak. Soyuz TM-11: First journalist in space. SEN.com. 27 June 2015. （原始内容于5 October 2015）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
66. Chang, Kenneth; Schwartz, John. Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo Crashes in New Setback for Commercial Spaceflight. New York Times. 31 October 2014 [20 January 2015]. （原始内容于16 December 2014）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
67. House Approves H.R. 3752, The Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act of 2004. spaceref.com. [14 February 2008]. （原始内容存档于4 January 2013）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
68. Reyes, Tim. Balloon launcher Zero2Infinity Sets Its Sights to the Stars. Universe Today. 17 October 2014 [15 July 2015]. （原始内容于10 July 2015）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
69. World View reaches new milestone in Stratollite development. SpaceNews. 2019-06-06 [2022-07-11] （美国英语）. 
70. Mike Wall. World View to start flying passengers on stratospheric balloon rides in 2024. Space.com. 2021-10-04 [2022-07-11]. （原始内容于2022-08-13） （英语）. 
71. La croisière aux portes de l'espace. Zephalto. [2021-02-12]. （原始内容于2022-10-31） （fr-FR）.  引文格式1维护：未识别语文类型 (link)
72. Home - Space Perspective human spaceflight, space tourism, spaceship. Space Perspective. [2021-02-12]. （原始内容于2021-05-17） （美国英语）. 
73. Jackie Wattles. Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson successfully rockets to outer space. CNN. [2021-07-20]. （原始内容于2022-11-13）. 
74. Chang, Kenneth. Latest Updates: Bezos and Blue Origin Crew Land After Short Flight to Space. The New York Times. 2021-07-20 [2021-07-20]. ISSN 0362-4331. （原始内容于2021-07-21） （美国英语）. 
75. B612 studying smallsat missions to search for near Earth objects. SpaceNews. 20 June 2017. 
76. . B612 Foundation. [13 September 2012]. （原始内容存档于6 April 2012）. 
77. . B612 Foundation. [19 September 2012]. （原始内容存档于10 September 2012）. 
78. Davis, Jason. It's Official: LightSail Test Flight Scheduled for May 2015. Planetary Society. 26 January 2015. （原始内容于1 February 2015）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
79. Falcon 9 booster rockets into orbit on dramatic first launch. spaceflightnow.com. 4 June 2010 [4 June 2010]. （原始内容于7 June 2010）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
80. Cowing, Keith. The SpaceX Dragon: America's First Privately Financed Manned Orbital Spacecraft?. SpaceRef.com. 6 March 2006 [12 February 2008]. 
81. Norris, Guy. SpaceX Unveils 'Step Change' Dragon 'V2'. Aviation Week. 30 May 2014 [18 September 2014]. （原始内容于31 May 2014）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
82. NASA Chooses American Companies to Transport U.S. Astronauts to International Space Station. [16 September 2014]. （原始内容于18 September 2014）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
83. UKSA Reviews Skylon and SABRE at Parabolic Arc. parabolicarc.com. [12 June 2015]. （原始内容于14 June 2015）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
84. . reactionengines.co.uk. [12 June 2015]. （原始内容存档于2 June 2015）. 
85. . [1 March 2011]. （原始内容存档于26 September 2010）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
86. Reaction Engines Limited. reactionengines.co.uk. [12 June 2015]. （原始内容于17 June 2015）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
87. Knapp, Alex. The Space Station Is The Final Frontier Of Bio Research. Forbes. 4 March 2013 [18 February 2013]. （原始内容于17 February 2013）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
88. SpaceX. SpaceX. [2021-04-27]. （原始内容于2011-03-07） （英语）. 
89. dearMoon 8 crew members wanted!. dearMoon 8 crew members wanted!. [2021-04-27]. （原始内容于2020-01-12） （英语）. 
90. NASA and the Business of Space (PDF). NASA. [12 February 2008]. （原始内容 (PDF)于27 February 2008）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
91. (PDF). Boeing. [12 February 2008]. （原始内容 (PDF)存档于27 February 2008）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
92. Shackleton Energy's cislunar economic development plans 互联网档案馆的，存档日期5 January 2013. David Livingston interview with James Keravala, The Space Show, 14 December 2012, accessed 3 January 2013.
93. How Asteroid Mining Will Work. howstuffworks.com. [12 February 2008]. （原始内容于10 February 2008）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
94. The LiftPort Space Elevator. liftport.com. [11 February 2008]. （原始内容于12 February 2008）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
95. NASA Reaches Milestone in Space Launch Initiative Program. NASA. [14 February 2008]. （原始内容于5 August 2008）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
96. . astronautix.com. [14 February 2008]. （原始内容存档于5 February 2008）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
97. Beal Aerospace regrets to announce that it is ceasing all business operations effective October 23, 2000 (新闻稿). spaceprojects.com. 23 March 2000 [21 June 2007]. （原始内容于1 July 2007）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
98. . astronautix.com. [14 February 2008]. （原始内容存档于9 November 2007）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
99. Shooting for the Moon: Time is called on Isle of Man space race. independent.co.uk. 11 March 2015 [7 May 2018]. （原始内容于14 September 2017）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
100. Foust, Jeff. Advanced space propulsion startup shuts down. SpaceNews. 5 February 2016 [5 February 2016]. 
101. Golden Spike Company Unveils Plans to Fly Commercial Crews to the Moon. WIRED. 6 December 2012 [12 June 2015]. （原始内容于29 September 2013）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
102. Norris, Guy (8 October 2014) XCOR Lynx Moves Into Final Assembly 互联网档案馆的，存档日期20 January 2015. Aviation Week, Retrieved 20 January 2015
103. Hindman, Nate C. (23 October 2012) XCOR Lynx: Supersonic Plane To Fly Between NYC And Tokyo In 90 Minutes 互联网档案馆的，存档日期26 August 2014. The Huffington Post, Retrieved 19 February 2013
104. Chow, Denise (8 June 2012) Space tourists can hop on a flight in 2014, XCOR says 互联网档案馆的，存档日期20 January 2015. NBC news, Retrieved 19 February 2013
105. . Bigelow Aerospace. （原始内容存档于10 July 2010）. 
106. MoonEx aims to scour moon for rare materials. Los Angeles Times. 8 April 2011 [20 August 2011]. The company is among several teams hoping to someday win the Google Lunar X Prize competition, a $30-million race to the moon in which a privately-funded team must successfully place a robot on the moon's surface and have it explore at least 1/3 of a mile. It also must transmit high definition video and images back to Earth before 2016. ... should be ready to land on the lunar surface by 2013 
107. BBC 互联网档案馆的，存档日期25 December 2015., accessed 7 October 2015.
108. X-Prize website 互联网档案馆的，存档日期21 April 2016., retrieved 9 February 2017
109. Krishnan, Alnoor Peermohamed & Raghu. Team Indus gets slot on PSLV rocket for its journey to moon. Business Standard India. 2 November 2016 [20 January 2017]. （原始内容于27 January 2017）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
110. The Verge website 互联网档案馆的，存档日期24 June 2017., retrieved 9 February 2017
111. Mining the Moon: How the extraction of lunar hydrogen or ice could fuel humanity's expansion into space 互联网档案馆的，存档日期10 March 2013., IEEE Spectrum, June 2009, accessed 5 January 2011.
112. Anne Sewell. Mars One: Human settlement on Mars in 2023. Digital Journal. 1 June 2012 [6 June 2012]. （原始内容于4 June 2012）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
113. Adario Strange. Dutch Group Planning for Mars Settlement by 2023. PC Mag. 1 June 2012 [6 June 2012]. （原始内容于4 June 2012）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
114. Dario Borghino. Mission to Mars meets reality TV. Gizmag. 4 June 2012 [8 June 2012]. （原始内容于7 June 2012）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
115. Fong, MD, Kevin. The Strange, Deadly Effects Mars Would Have on Your Body. Wired. 12 February 2014 [12 February 2014]. （原始内容于2014-03-25）. 
116. 'Mars One' finalist breaks silence, claims organization is a total scam, 16 March 2015. [2022-08-10]. （原始内容于2019-12-30）. 
117. Roche, Joseph. I'm on list to be a Mars One astronaut – but I won't see the red planet. The Guardian. [8 April 2015]. （原始内容于2019-04-15）. 
118. Day, Dwayne. Red planet rumble. The Space Review. 17 August 2015 [21 August 2015]. （原始内容于2019-06-12）. 
119. Dickerson, Kelly. The Mars One plan is totally delusional. Yahoo! News. [8 April 2015]. （原始内容于2021-06-14）. 
120. West, Kesha. Ethical questions over one-way Mars trip. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. [11 January 2014]. （原始内容于2022-08-10）. 
121. Belfiore, Michael. The Crazy Plan to Fly Two Humans to Mars in 2018. Popular Mechanics. 27 February 2013 [28 February 2013]. （原始内容于2 March 2013）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
122. Morring, Frank, Jr. Serious Intent About 2018 Human Mars Mission. Aviation Week and Space Technology. 4 March 2013 [7 March 2013]. （原始内容于10 May 2013）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
123. Connor, Steve. The millionaire Dennis Tito and his mission to Mars. The Independent. 26 February 2013 [28 February 2013]. （原始内容于28 February 2013）.  已忽略未知参数|df= (帮助)
124. Berger, Eric. Musk's Mars moment: Audacity, madness, brilliance—or maybe all three. Ars Technica. 2016-09-28 [2016-10-13]. （原始内容于2016-10-13）. 
125. Foust, Jeff. . SpaceNews. 2016-10-10 [2016-10-12]. （原始内容存档于2016-10-13）. 
126. Elon Musk. Elon Musk, ISS R&D Conference (video). ISS R&D Conference, Washington DC, USA. 事件发生在 49:48–51:35. July 19, 2017 [September 13, 2017]. （原始内容存档于2021-12-21）. the updated version of the Mars architecture: Because it has evolved quite a bit since that last talk. ... The key thing that I figured out is how do you pay for it? if we downsize the Mars vehicle, make it capable of doing Earth-orbit activity as well as Mars activity, maybe we can pay for it by using it for Earth-orbit activity. That is one of the key elements in the new architecture. It is similar to what was shown at IAC, but a little bit smaller. Still big, but this one has a shot at being real on the economic front. 
127. Grush, Loren. Elon Musk plans to put all of SpaceX's resources into its Mars rocket. The Verge. September 29, 2017 [September 29, 2017]. （原始内容于September 29, 2017）. 
128. Blewitt, Richard Tyr. Elon Musk's plans for the Big Fucking Rocket: Mars, Moon, and Earth. Neowin. September 29, 2017 [September 29, 2017]. （原始内容于September 29, 2017）. 

• Belfiore, Michael. Rocketeers: How a Visionary Band of Business Leaders, Engineers, and Pilots is Boldly Privatizing Space. Harper Paperbacks, 2008.
• Bizony, Piers. How to Build Your Own Spaceship: The Science of Personal Space Travel. Plume, 2009.

外部链接

• Climbing a Commercial Stairway to Space: A Plausible Timeline （页面存档备份，存于互联网档案馆） RLV News, 2 February 2006
• Space Liberates Us!, 20 March 2007
• Study defining personal spaceflight industry （页面存档备份，存于互联网档案馆） Space Fellowship, 29 May 2008

政府

• DOC OSC, 2002

企业风投

• C&SPACE （页面存档备份，存于互联网档案馆）
• Starchaser Industries （页面存档备份，存于互联网档案馆）
• Space Services, Inc. （页面存档备份，存于互联网档案馆）
• Commercial Space Companies （页面存档备份，存于互联网档案馆） at the Space Frontier Foundation
• Astrobotic （页面存档备份，存于互联网档案馆）

媒体报道

• A Word from the Know-Nothing Bureaucrats NASA union viewpoint on private spaceflight
• Private Industry Can Help NASA Open the Space Frontier （页面存档备份，存于互联网档案馆） Space Frontier Foundation, 14 February 2005