Two recent crashes, including a fatal one involving a Virgin Galactic shuttle, raise new questions about the future of the commercial space industry. Twenty people who had purchased seats to fly to the edge of space on Virgin Galactic have reportedly asked for their money back. The second crash, with a company that carries cargo to space for NASA, happened late last month. We’ll discuss the state of the $300 billion global space economy.
Crashes Cast Doubt on Future of Commercial Space Industry
(Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images)
Guests:
Seth Borenstein, science writer for The Associated Press
G. Scott Hubbard, director of the Stanford Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation, editor-in-chief of New Space, a journal on the emerging entrepreneurial space community and former director of the NASA Ames Research Center
Doug Griffith, aviation and spaceflight lawyer and former naval aviator in the U.S. Marine Corps, where he flew multiple combat missions
Gregg Maryniak, co-founder and secretary of XPrize, a nonprofit running public competitions to inspire innovation, including building private spaceships
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