This Palgrave Pivot investigates the efforts of five aerospace companies - SpaceX, Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic, Orbital Sciences, and the Boeing Company - to launch their entry into the field of commercial space transportation. Can private sector firms raise enough capital to end the usual...

Introduction -- Space race 2.0 -- The rocket-industrial complex -- The rocket monopoly -- The Internet guy -- Friday afternoon space club -- The tyranny of the rocket -- Never a straight answer -- A method of reaching extreme altitudes -- Test as we fly -- Change versus more of the same --...

The space economy is expanding and becoming increasingly global, driven by the development of ever-more governmental space programmes around the world, the multiplication of commercial actors in value chains, durable digitalisation trends, and new space systems coming of age. This report...

Commercial ventures in outer space can be expected to affect the environment. Space commerce will generate waste and pose a risk of harmful contamination to the Earth and other celestial bodies. Some commercial activities in space may create long-term adverse changes in the Earth's environment....

One thriving but slipping under the radar of researchers economic sector is the space economy. The multi-billion space industries enjoy a constant increase in investment in the recent years even despite the crisis caused by COVID-19. This paper aims to trace the development of this sector, to...