The first flight of a commercial vessel to the International Space Station in late April will signal a bigger role for the private sector and open up space tourism opportunities. SpaceX, owned by Internet entrepreneur and PayPal founder Elon Musk, made history with its Dragon launch in December 2010, becoming the first private company to send a spacecraft into orbit and back, under a contract from NASA.
But its demonstration flight to the ISS next month, carrying 880 pounds of dried food, it's a key test for the private sector, following the space agency's decision to axe its space shuttle program. Mr. Musk claims he can bring down the cost of space exploration, with his new Falcon 9 rocket. That cant come at a better time considering NASA budget has been reduced. And Musk has even bigger dreams than that, including interplanetary travel for all of us, he claims he can send you to mars for $500,000 and back.
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