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...