The Space-race Business Case

With NASA’s help, the private sector is looking to launch its profits into orbit.

- Jaclyn Trop

AT THE END of the decade, after over a quartercentury in orbit, the International Space Station (ISS) is planned to be decommissioned by NASA in order for the agency to focus on deep-space exploration, lunar flights and journeys to Mars. That leaves low-Earth orbit, the layer 402km above the atmosphere, as the next frontier in commercial space enterprises. NASA seems all for it, supporting private developers via grants that promise to set off a gold rush of scientific research-and tourism.

"There will be at least one, maybe two, private space stations in the next five to 10 years," says Tom Shelley, president of Space Adventures, which has been placing civilians on the ISS since 2001. But while he's confident of the timeline, specifics remain vague. "Just exactly how big and their exact format is too early to tell," he adds.