Modern Space Race
Anosh Dayananthan
We all know about the space race; the famous pursuit of the Moon. The Soviet Union and the United States of America competed in this captivating competition to see who would come out on top. All that was 50 years ago, so what is happening now? We all know that NASA is not the only spacecraft manufacturer; many private companies are joining the competition. These companies such as SpaceX and Blue Origin are trying to compete to get funding from the government for a new mission; getting to Mars and colonising it. They believe that colonising Mars will be the only way for humans to survive. On Mars, there are many opportunities to make money, by mining magnesium, aluminium, titanium, iron, chromium, and other important minerals. Companies want to use this as a business model, so the first one there will gain an advantage, but there is a problem. Since the pandemic, many companies have had to delay their launches by months and the pressure on these companies is going to make their launches a lot harder to pursue.
Now we know that private companies are joining the space race, let’s take a look at what they're doing. SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, has been the most loved company of them all, with lightning-fast build times and astonishing efforts put into their builds. SpaceX has its Falcon 9 and Falcon heavy rockets which have had 187 successful launches, but they are trying to build the Starship. The Starship will be the most powerful rocket in existence. With a 9 m (30 ft) diameter and 120 m (393 ft) tall, this rocket should be able to make travelling to the Moon and Mars much easier. NASA has awarded SpaceX $3.9 billion CAD to build a Moon Lander. SpaceX is scheduled to land NASA's Artemis III mission on the lunar surface in 2025 or 2026, meaning we only have a few years left until we see people on the Moon for the first time since 1976. Yes, SpaceX is teaming up with NASA to go to the Moon and it's amazing to see these corporations working together.
Blue Origin is a company owned by Jeff Bezos, the owner of Amazon. This company had a rough start, but it’s beginning to get back on track. Blue Origin does not rely on government funds, but instead relies on Jeff Bezos selling his Amazon stocks to fund the company. This company's main rocket is the New Shepard rocket. Even though it's small, it still packs a punch. You can buy a seat on this rocket for $500,000. On this ride, you will get to the Karman line (the line that separates Earth's atmosphere and space), so you can officially be in space. Blue Origin has another rocket, New Glenn that is 98 m tall and will be the most powerful rocket that Blue Origin owns. One issue though is that Blue Origin has a problem: the rocket has been consistently delayed. It has been said that New Glenn will launch in late 2022, but most people think it will launch in 2023.
Since private companies are joining in on the race, the question is: who will come out on top? Many believe it will be SpaceX because they have the most progress, but SpaceX is slowing down the production of their SN prototypes. In my opinion, SpaceX has been progressing very far in its space journey. Another question is whether SpaceX will be able to land their rocket on the Moon without using a lander, like in the Apollo missions. Most corporations are using landers as their main way to reach the Moon. Many people have questioned whether the technology is strong enough to do this incredible triumph. Do you think the modern space race is a good thing or just another problem humans have to surpass? Do you believe SpaceX will succeed or will it be Blue Origin? All we can do for now is wait.
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