‘Burn’ tons of money into the space race, which billionaire is the winner?
Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Richard Branson are billionaires who have decided to spend big bucks to pursue their dreams of space travel, creating a space race.
So who will really win in this “rich man” race? The answer depends on how you look at the problem because the space companies they founded all have different goals and visions.
The media called Bezos, Branson, and Musk the three space tycoons because of their similarities: They all made fortunes in various industries before setting foot on aerospace projects.
Where, Musk owns businesses in online payments and electric cars, Bezos with Amazon’s e-commerce platform and Branson with Virgin-branded business empires.
Now, they are the most prominent faces in the 21st century space race.
Of course, they are not the only players in this game because beside them there are hundreds of startups in the space field around the world. Even so, Musk’s SpaceX, Bezos’ Blue Origin, and Branson’s Virgin still benefit greatly from partnerships with NASA and the US military.
Elon Musk
If there was a race going on, many space enthusiasts would choose SpaceX as the leader. Founded in 2002, until now, SpaceX has successfully built rockets capable of sending satellites and cargo into space, winning many large contracts from NASA and the US government.
In addition, Musk’s company has successfully developed a spacecraft to carry astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). Currently, SpaceX is building spacecraft to send people to the Moon and Mars.
Meanwhile, neither the Branson nor Bezos companies put astronauts into orbit, but simply flew to the edge of space, about 100 km above the earth’s surface.
There’s no denying that SpaceX has regularly pioneered the commercial space by breaking records, making history, and achieving things that were previously thought impossible by industry experts. SpaceX is said to have almost single-handedly disrupted the rocket industry, which was considered somewhat stagnant and somewhat unattractive decades ago.
Illustration: Internet.
However, Musk is the only one of the three billionaires who has never traveled to space. Both Bezos and Branson had successful flights. To date, Musk’s most prominent statement on the matter is that he wants to “die on Mars.”
Jeff Bezos
Bezos is a billionaire who doesn’t want to rush into production and make rockets part of his brand. He founded Blue Origin in 2000 – 6 years after founding Amazon.
For many years, Blue Origin operated in almost complete secrecy. But now, his goal is pretty clear: Bezos – the richest man in the world, finally wants to send people to live and work in outer space to prolong life after the Earth falls into a future energy scarcity crisis of scarcity.
In addition, he founded Blue Origin to develop lower cost rocket and spacecraft technology. The company plans to build a lunar lander, working with NASA and other partners to build a base on the Moon.
The New Shepard – a fully autonomous and reusable rocket from Blue Origin – is believed to be the first step in creating lunar lander technology. SpaceX plans to develop the New Shepard ship for its space tourism business in orbit, selling tickets to the wealthy who want to experience the thrill.
More ambitiously, Blue Orogin is also researching technology to develop the ship New Glenn – a rocket as big and powerful as SpaceX’s Heavy Falcon, to send people and goods into space.
In this race, however, SpaceX had a big advantage when it won a number of lucrative US government contracts to finance these projects, including the Moon lander contract. Additionally, Amazon has also announced plans to create a constellation of internet-connected satellites, such as SpaceX’s Starlink.
Richard Branson
Recently, the rivalry between Branson and Bezos came to the fore. Branson’s Virgin Galactic was founded with a business plan similar to Bezos’ Blue Origin: send customers flying to the edge of outer space. However, Virgin Galactic’s technology is not the same as Blue Origin.
Jeff Bezos (left) and Richard Branson (Image: Internet).
In the battle between Branson and Bezos, Branson has every right to brag that his company has sent humans into space on test flights, while every Blue Origin test flight to date has carried none. Which astronaut?
Not to mention, Branson has also put a rocket into orbit – something that requires far more rocket speed and power than suborbital flight.
The Branson rocket brought the first satellite into orbit last January. While the rocket isn’t as powerful as Musk’s Falcon 9 or Bezos’ New Glenn, the Branson company is seen as a space industry leader in the race to develop a rocket specifically designed to send small, satellite rockets into space.
Virgin Galactic also has some bold long-term visions, including the creation of a supersonic, high-speed suborbital jet that would be able to transport people between cities at lightning speed.
In short: All three billionaires have ambitions in space and all aim to expand so that the private sector can send satellites, people or goods into space faster and cheaper.
at Blogtuan.info – Source: genk.vn – Read the original article here
