Inspiration4 and SpaceX's Advancement in the Race for Space Tourism

Billionaires and the space race

Inspiration4 is also a step forward in the space race; after all, Elon Musk, creator of SpaceX, did not want to be left behind competitors Jeff Bezos, from Blue Origin, and Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, who are investing heavily in this new form of tourism and made their first commercial flights in July 2021.

The precursor to the initiative was Branson’s VSS Unity rocket, which flew by 20 minutes in suborbital mode, on the day 15/07, followed by New Shepard, from Bezos, who traveled the same way for ten minutes, in 29/. Currently, both Blue Origin, Virgin and SpaceX have plans to commercialize space travel in 2010.

Public-Private Partnership

SpaceX’s latest mission is an example of how the union between Government and private companies can generate significant advances, not only for the development of new technologies for space, but also for life on Earth.

Inspiration4 was motivated by the Commercial Crew Program, NASA’s program that challenged aerospace companies with an $8 billion incentive to build a safe and cost-effective transportation mechanism. benefit, which could travel through the suborbit of the planet or to the International Space Station.

The program, which began in 2010, had the participation of several companies, but the ones that stood out were Boeing and SpaceX. And, among the main benefits, in addition to promoting innovation, all the knowledge acquired and developed during the process was shared between the institutions and the American agency.

Benefits that go beyond space

It is not new that space missions provide significant advances for terrestrial life. You may not know it or have never thought about it, but from the simplest to the most complex activities, there is positive interference caused by the progress of technology.

Baby food is a classic example of food that was initially designed for astronauts. In the same line is the creation of equipment that are used today for the practice of exercise at home and the lines of wireless tools, so the crew could use in space.

The GPS, compression suits for pregnant women and the infrared thermometer are also inventions that emerged from these missions, but there are many others. Therefore, it is possible to expect that Inspiration4 and space tourism will mark the beginning of new technologies and innovations also for those who will not take their feet off the ground.

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Inspiration4 back to Earth after 3 days in orbit