Abstract Yuri Gagarin and John Glenn provide a good representation of the First Space Age. Gagarin s achievement of being the first human to visit space provided the opening chapter, and Glenn’s ride in the Shuttle at the autumn of his life and career, along with the death of Mir, marked the closing chapter. The beginning of a new millennium and the historic commercial ride to space by Dennis Tito mark the start of the Second Space Age in human history. Meanwhile, a cauldron of entrepreneurial space activity is actively bubbling behind the scenes. Companies like SpaceDev are working to implement the motto: “If we want to go to space to stay, space has to pay.” SpaceDev is building a space technology infrastructure that could be the basis of a private, commercial space program. SpaceDev is involved in small, high-performance space vehicle development, and the use of safe, clean and affordable propulsion technologies for human suborbital and on-orbit applications. As capabilities and experience grow, the size of SpaceDev missions and projects will grow. This paper describes the corporate culture and entrepreneurial technology developments which will result in humans exploring and settling space in our lifetimes.


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    Title :

    The Role of the Private Sector/Entrepreneur in Future Human Space Exploration


    Contributors:
    Benson, J. (author)


    Publication date :

    2002-01-01


    Size :

    6 pages





    Type of media :

    Article/Chapter (Book)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English