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s the world celebrated the designing such launch programmes. companies who have been tremendous-
50th anniversary of the Buoyed by Trump’s announcement that ly successful in designing and launching
Apollo 11 moon landing, he was going to rejuvenate the nation’s their own missions. The companies like
which was the first time the premier space agency, NASA is on track the SpaceX, Blue Origin, Florida-based
A humankind had set foot on to built a Gateway around the moon, Moon Express, Astrobotic, including a
the moon, US President Donald Trump which could serve as a launchpad for number of others, have already set their
set a hasty target of 2024 for NASA to deeper space missions. eyes on the moon and beyond.
return Americans to the moon. Trump The Gateway, under the Artemis pro- While these companies are partner-
has strangely shown keen interest in gramme, will serve as a temporary home ing NASA in its efforts, they have been
the nation’s space programme, asking for the astronauts while it orbits the working on their own missions and been
the NASA to speed up its programmes moon. Just like a space station, the Gate- very successful at them. NASA has in
to the moon, and eventually to Mars. The way will house laboratories for science recent years aggressively outsourced
last manned mission to the moon was in and research, docking ports, serving as a a lot of work to these agencies and that
1972 when the Apollo 17 mission landed home base for expeditions to the moon seems to be its long-term plan. The moon
on the moon. Since then, there has been and mars. NASA is partnering with US landing, according to NASA will be a
a 50-year lull, with no manned mission. companies and the international space combined effort of private companies
Amid the intense cold war rivalry in agencies to build the Gateway within the and international space agencies. NASA
the 60s, US allocated a colossal budget next decade. The aim is to build a sustain- won’t be alone.
to NASA to go for the Apollo programme able presence on the moon. Blue Origin, a private space company,
and land the astronauts in the moon. The space agency’s much touted floated by the billionaire Jeff Bezos, an-

Private players have a role in

achieving moon tourism goal

The last decade has seen an unprecedented boom of private space organisations who have successfully
transformed the space exploration infrastructure, reports younis dar

Back then, the country had both the Space Launch System (SLS) and the Orion nounced it had developed its own ‘Blue
political will and the huge budget to spacecraft will play an incremental role Moon’ lander, which has the ability to
embark on the humanity’s most daring in the realisation of this critical mission. land a 4,500 kg payload on the lunar
milestone. The manned space launch- The ambitious Space Launch System is surface. The company believes it will be
es take enormous amounts of money, being built along with Boeing and a num- ready to fly its first moon mission in the
which very few countries can afford. The ber of other private companies. Both the next few years. Jeff Bezos has ambitious
enthusiasm faded after the 70s as the SLS and the Orion capsule can be subject plans which include setting up a perma-
US had achieved supremacy over the to modifications and altered in design nent human colony on the moon and
Soviet Union in space domain, and with from time to time to allow new tech - help advance human exploration beyond
dwindling finances, NASA could hardly nologies and systems as they develop. our natural satellite. The company is aim-
manage such challenging missions. NA- The systems are compatible with deep ing to tap the satellite launch business as
SA’s space shuttle programme was also space missions, other than just the moon well as pave the way for space tourism.
discontinued by 2011 due to the lack of landing. Another company, Virgin Galactic, has
resources to run the exceptional engi- So how does NASA plan to meet such already tested its SpaceshipTwo space-
neering marvel. a narrow deadline of 2024 for moon craft in the low-earth orbit, in which it
However, there is a renewed interest landing? The premier space agency has plans to send space tourists to as high as
amongst the fledgling private corpora- roped at least 11 private companies who 50 miles.
tions, and NASA itself, to again go for are partnering with it to develop the dif- The Japanese private organisation iS-
manned lunar missions. The effort this ferent stages and technologies for the pace is developing a series of landers and
time is led by private companies that monumental mission. The last decade rovers to explore on the lunar surface.
are also seeing a business potential in has seem the boom of private space The company already has plans to send

Tehelka / 15 november 2019 56 www.Tehelka.com