Ed Dwight, a former Air Force test pilot who was passed over to become an astronaut in the 1960s, described his flight aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard as “life changing.”
commercial spaceflight
Taxing the final frontier
Launches by commercial space companies are becoming more frequent. Last year, the Federal Aviation Administration licensed 117, an all-time high. But these spaceflight companies aren’t paying for all of the FAA’s services that they use.
Today, we explore why the government is looking to change that and dig into the larger debate over whether human activity in space is a public or private project.
Related episodes:
Economics in space
Planet Money goes to space
Space economics
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Private company Intuitive Machines is set to land on the moon. Here’s what to know
The Houston-based company hopes to make the first successful commercial landing on the lunar surface. It would also be America’s first soft landing in decades.


