Space Exploration Companies 101: Introduction, Terms, and Extras

In 2012 and 2013, NASA received funding from President Barack Obama. According to the White House's 2013 budget request, NASA would receive $59 million less than the 2012 figure. NASA would see a cut in planetary science spending, as well. With these various cuts in the government's budget spending happening, the organization may have thought "where is the money going to, and who is the competition stealing the airspace?" These questions bring in the diverse companies competing with NASA, such as Virgin Galactic, SpaceX, and Blue Origin. First, Richard Branson wanted Virgin Galactic to take passengers on suborbital flights. The talented musical, airline, and telecom entrepreneur has tried to offer suborbital flights since 2007. Yet, the start date was pushed back an innumerable amount of times. The list of development problems started in 2007, with various crashes during test flights and continued sadly through 2014. Virgin Galactic started TSC (The Spaceship Company), and it is headquartered in Mojave, CA. TSC is building spaceships, that will help Virgin Galactic achieve the dreams of its 700,000 paid customers. Up next is Elon Musk's SpaceX, short for Space Exploration Technologies Corporation. The company is based in Hawthorne, CA. Since 2002, the company has become a major player in Space Transportation Services. SpaceX designs many of its parts in-house, in order to control costs and quality. This process has helped the firm, to offer one of the lowest launch prices in the industry. SpaceX has signed many contracts with NASA, and other private sector companies for its space launch services. Last but not least is Blue Origin, another privately funded aerospace manufacturer. The company was started by Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com. Blue Origin is creating technology for humans, to have low cost, private access to space. The scientific process is done with an affordable cost, and increased reliability as the main principles. The company is based in Kent, WA. The company is focused on sub-orbital spaceflight products, and increasing human safety measures for space tourism. In closing, my goal was to inform you of a diverse set of "space exploration companies." When people think of the final frontier, they should know this subject has not dissolved into thin air. Enjoy the image above of SpaceX helping private companies, to receive satellite funding.