Billionaires fueling a race to space

Nicknamed "NewSpace", more and more entrepreneurs are joining the race to create inexpensive and marketed space trips.

Among these are billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Sir Richard Branson, all of whom have made fortunes in other industries.

Between them, they pose a major challenge to the established space industry giants.

Fueled by intense rivalries, their ambitions include the development of space tourism and the development of a permanent human settlement on the Moon and even on Mars.

But new entrepreneurs in the field of space also fill the huge void left by governments that have had to reduce funding for space missions.

As a result, names such as SpaceX and Blue Origin are now part of the increasingly lucrative military space race, as the United States seeks to counter the ambitions of China and Russia. According to some estimates, the space industry is expected to represent one trillion dollars by 2040.

So, which companies are hoping to make money by radically transforming our future, and who are the men behind them?

Jeff Bezos: blue origin

The founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, the richest man in the world, was one of the first billionaires to embark on the commercial "race to space", to Origin of Blue Origin in 2000.

Compared to competitors in the industry, it has a reputation for being much more reserved about its activities.

The company suffered setbacks after several unsuccessful launches and problems with its BE-4 engine. Since 2016, Bezos has sold $ 1 billion of its Amazon shares each year to maintain its business.

Like its rival SpaceX, its goal is to reduce the cost of space travel by building reusable rockets. In the past, rockets were thrown after a single launch.

Three years ago, she became the first company to successfully land. The same rocket, New Shepherd, has landed now five times but rival Elon Musk dug in Bezos on social media, pointing out that these flights had only been sub-orbital.

In growth, Blue Origin is winning lucrative government contracts and recently obtained US government national security certifications.

Earlier this year, in conjunction with Northrop Grumman and United Launch Alliance, he was chosen by the US Air Force to develop new rockets that can be used for military launching. Each company will receive $ 109 million from the transaction.

Bezos plans to send "space tourists" in sub-orbital flight. Blue Origin has announced the sale of tickets from next year, the company's insiders suggesting they could shell out $ 300,000 US.

In the future, Bezos aims to form a partnership with NASA to test the possibility of a permanent human settlement of the Moon.

Elon Musk: Space X

Elon Musk, a businessman born in South Africa, launched SpaceX in 2002 with $ 100 million of his first PayPal-paid fortune, which he co-founded.

The company has launched nearly 70 rockets to date and has won contracts with NASA, the US Air Force and the Argentinian Space Agency to launch satellites and replenish the International Space Station.

He also ventured deeper into space than Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic, reaching more than 32,000 km above the Earth's equator.

But Musk also suffered setbacks. Several launches result in the rocket blast and the loss of payloads, including a spy satellite for the US military.

But Musk is known for his advertising stunts that highlight failures and highlight successes. Last year, he shared a "reel of blooper" with launches and landings of failed rockets, featuring "some images of an epic explosion". SpaceX also launched a Tesla car in space as part of its Falcon Heavy rocket project.

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Like Blue Origin, Musk plans to one day send people into space on commercial flights. Earlier this year, he announced that the first "moon tourist" of SpaceX would be the Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa.

But one of the ultimate goals of SpaceX is to send manned flights to Mars and colonize the red planet.

"I want to die on Mars," said Musk, "but not by impact."

Sir Richard Branson: Virgin Galactic

British mogul Sir Richard Branson is one of the newest members of the NewSpace group, having founded Virgin Galactic in 2004.

While his rivals have ambitions for deep space travel, Sir Richard is focusing on the development of reusable "space planes" to take tourists and other payloads on brief journeys to the United States. suborbital space.

Virgin Galactic has already started selling tickets for $ 250,000 and celebrities such as pop star Justin Bieber have already registered. It also attracted major investments, notably from the UAE's sovereign wealth fund.

The company made the headlines in 2014 after the explosion of a spacecraft during a test flight in California, killing one pilot and injuring another. This turned out to be a serious setback for his initial goal of becoming the first company to send a tourist into space.

But the company has since made several test flights and earlier this month, Sir Richard said that it would be in space "in weeks and not months".