Facing unexpected pressure and the yawning void of the post-Shuttle era, the commercial space race has huge challenges ahead. In the wake of Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin test failure, we look at the future of the industry.
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket launch on Friday did something much bigger than popping a dummy payload into space: it lit a fuse beneath the next era of space exploration, with commercial efforts alongside government ones.
Forget NASA's giant rockets, forget even the Russian Space Agency's vintage but reliable Soyuz vehicles: The future of space travel for you and me (assuming we're filthy rich) is in private hands. Jeff Bezos' and Richard Branson's, actually.