Text Numero Ventra Commercial space flights at an altitude of 400 kilometers, with

both vessels traveling at 7.7 kilometers a second. The Crew Dragon capsule came
within 2 meters of the International Space Station. After a final 20 seconds of
stately approach, the endeavors capturing made contact with the station's docking
adapter. The short voyages, simple, straightforward end belied its significance.
In May 2012, SpaceX, a Californian firm founded by Elon Musk, started using its
spacecraft to make cargo deliveries to the space station built by America, Russia,
Europe, Japan and Canada. On May the 30th, 2020, the firm's Dragon capsule also
delivered 2 American astronauts who were the first astronauts of any country to
reach orbit in a vessel designed and operated by a private company.
The feat is good news for astronauts, for American taxpayers, and for the world at
large. While older Russian Soyuz capsules seated only three astronauts, the Crew
Dragons, which were designed afresh in the 2000 and 10s, now seat up to seven and
have toilets. American taxpayers get space flights, which cost much less than they
would if the government had overseen every detail of the spacecraft's design and
operation, as it used to.
It would be wrong to see this as simply an example of the private sector
outperforming the public sector. Admittedly, NASA, America's space agency, has a
disastrous history of overexpensive Space Flight projects such as the Shuttle. But
SpaceX is not so much a matter of out competing NASA as a matter of NASA learning
how to do things better. The government didn't just go to SpaceX with an open
checkbook, order a ride, and sit back.
It provided thought through contracts that help the firm develop the technologies
it needed. It also promised to provide a market once the capsules were ready. This
gave Spacex's engineers the resources they needed to do the job at a fraction of
previous costs. A model of public private partnership. And it is not only NASA that
benefits. The Crew Dragon is available to anyone who can pay. To date, almost all
human Space Flight has been governmental.
But it doesn't have to be. SpaceX has already signed up with companies offering
Crew Dragon trips to the space station and to an orbit around the Earth. It has
also made a deal to fly a Japanese billionaire around the moon once its net
spacecraft Starship is ready. Some intrepid, wealthy souls have already visited the
space station as tourists. More can now follow parts of NASA's program for a human
return to the moon.
Are now being run in the same commercially focused way as the Crew Dragon program.
Profitable lunar ventures seem unlikely, but if private companies want to try to
prove the contrary, they should be free to do so. Adapted from The Economist, June
2020.