The Hindu Explains | Would space exploration survive in the era of privatisation?
The HinduThe story so far: Perhaps the most stunning instance of a collaboration between public enterprises and the private sector in recent times is that between NASA and SpaceX. The latest instances of this include the launch of the Crew Dragon spacecraft on November 15, which carried to the International Space Station four astronauts — Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover and Shannon Walker of NASA and Soichi Noguchi of the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency. Having their own rockets to transport astronauts to the International Space Station and back has prevented Americans from spending hugely on the mission, as they were doing earlier. It is a reusable spacecraft capable of returning significant cargo to the Earth from the International Space Station. While the first two may allow the customer to experience a few minutes of only microgravity, the last company can, in principle, take space travellers to the International Space Station, where they could spend even weeks.
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