The Commercial Space Industry Takes Flight

A few exploding rockets notwithstanding, commercial spaceflight had a great year. Elon Musk's SpaceX got cleared to fly top secret Air Force cargo into space. Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin landed a rocket. And NASA announced its would be sending astronauts up to the International Space Station on private spacecraft starting in 2017. All of that is good momentum for an increasingly ambitious industry, but the real win came from a bunch of Washington bureaucrats. In November, Congress updated the SPACE Act to allow private companies to keep and sell on Earth whatever they may find in space. Yes, that means asteroid mining can now legally proceed. Of more immediate importance, the act also shields the commercial space industry from any FAA nannying through 2025. And you know why. So they can keep on ridin' to the Danger Zone!