Editing Private spaceflight (section)

== History of commercial space transportation ==
{{See also|Timeline of private spaceflight}}

During the principal period of [[spaceflight]] in the mid-twentieth century, only [[nation state]]s developed and flew spacecraft above the [[Kármán line]], the nominal boundary of space. Both the [[NASA|U.S. civilian space program]] and [[Soviet space program]] were operated using mainly military pilots as [[astronaut]]s. During this period, no commercial space launches were available to private operators, and no private organization was able to offer space launches. Eventually, private organizations were able to both offer and purchase space launches, thus beginning the period of private spaceflight. 
 
The first phase of private space operation was the launch of the first commercial [[communications satellite]]s. The U.S. [[Communications Satellite Act of 1962]] allowed commercial consortia owning and operating their own satellites, although these were still deployed on state-owned launch vehicles.

In 1980, the [[European Space Agency]] created [[Arianespace]], a company to be operated commercially after initial hardware and launch facilities were developed with [[European Government|government]] funding.<ref name="stAriane20130301">{{cite news|url=http://www.satellitetoday.com/via/satellitegetspersonal/Launch-Market-on-Cusp-of-Change_40648.html|title=Launch Market on Cusp of Change|last=Engel|first=Max|date=1 March 2013<!-- this is the PUBLICATION date of the newsstand issue; it came online on the internet by 15 Feb, but its stated date is 1 March 2013 -->|newspaper=Satellite Today|access-date=15 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130218050904/http://www.satellitetoday.com/via/satellitegetspersonal/Launch-Market-on-Cusp-of-Change_40648.html|archive-date=18 February 2013|url-status=live |quote=''Although some governments funded vehicle development in different ways, there were no vehicles that were not the product of some form of fairly direct governmental support. Even Ariane, the most "commercial" of launch vehicles, was commercial in operation only, not in inception and development, and could easily call on government support when things went wrong.''|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Arianespace has since launched numerous satellites as a commercial entity.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.arianespace.com/site/about/milestones_sub_index.html|title=Milestones|work=Arianespace.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080113040347/http://www.arianespace.com/site/about/milestones_sub_index.html|archive-date=13 January 2008|access-date=14 February 2008}}</ref>

The history of full private space transportation includes early efforts by German company [[OTRAG]] in the 20th century. Founded in 1975 as the first private company to attempt to launch a private spacecraft,<ref name="2012:May:Torchinsky">{{cite web|url=https://jalopnik.com/spacex-was-not-the-first-private-rocket-company-5913964|title=SpaceX Was Not The First Private Rocket Company|last=Torchinsky |first=Jason|date=May 29, 2012|website=www.jalopnik.com}}</ref> testing of its [[OTRAG (rocket)|OTRAG rocket]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://aad.archives.gov/aad/createpdf?rid=183768&dt=2082&dl=1345|title=Space Transportation - Critical Newspaper Article on Shuttle Program|access-date=2010-04-26|publisher=United States Department of State|date=1976-07-06}}</ref> began in 1977.<ref name="1978:October:Zuckerman">{{cite web|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/farms-on-the-asteroids-hotels-on-the-moon-39885/|title=Farms on the Asteroids: Hotels on the Moon|last=Zuckerman|first=Ed|date=October 19, 1978 |website=www.rollingstone.com}}</ref> The history also covers numerous modern orbital and suborbital launch systems in the 21st century. More recent commercial spaceflight projects include the suborbital flights of [[Virgin Galactic]] and [[Blue Origin]], the orbital flights of [[SpaceX]] and other [[Commercial Orbital Transportation Services|COTS]] participants.

Development of alternatives to government-provided [[space launch]] services began in earnest in the 2000s. Private interests began funding limited development programs, but the [[Federal government of the United States|US government]] later sponsored a [[Commercial Orbital Transportation Services|series of]] [[Commercial Crew Development|programs]] to incentivize and encourage private companies to begin offering both cargo, and later, crew [[space transport]]ation services.

Lower prices for launch services after 2010, and published prices for standard launch services, have brought about significant [[space launch market competition]] that had not been present previously.<ref name="vance2015">{{cite book|title=Elon Musk : Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future|last1=Vance|first1=Ashlee|author-link=Ashlee Vance|date=2015|publisher=HarperCollins|isbn=978-0-06-230123-9|location=New York|page=15}}</ref><ref name="bbc20141203">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30251863|title=Europe to press ahead with Ariane 6 rocket|work=BBC News|access-date=25 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150715063455/http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30251863|archive-date=15 July 2015|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name="fp20131209">{{cite news |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/12/02/the_rocketeer_elon_musk|title=The Rocketeer|last=Belfiore|first=Michael|date=9 December 2013|newspaper=Foreign Policy|access-date=11 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131210233009/http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/12/02/the_rocketeer_elon_musk|archive-date=10 December 2013|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name="wsj20150917">{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-rocket-supplier-looks-to-break-short-leash-1437339519|title=U.S. Rocket Supplier Looks to Break 'Short Leash'|last1=Pasztor|first1=Andy |date=17 September 2015|work=Wall Street Journal|access-date=14 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016131431/http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-rocket-supplier-looks-to-break-short-leash-1437339519|archive-date=16 October 2015|url-status=live|quote='' The aerospace giants [Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp.] shared almost $500 million in equity profits from the rocket-making venture last year, when it still had a monopoly on the business of blasting the Pentagon's most important satellites into orbit. But since then, 'they've had us on a very short leash', Tory Bruno, United Launch's chief executive'', said.|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name="wapo20160819">{{cite news |last=Davenport |first=Christian |date=19 August 2016 |title=The inside story of how billionaires are racing to take you to outer space |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/the-billionaire-space-barons-and-the-next-giant-leap/2016/08/19/795a4012-6307-11e6-8b27-bb8ba39497a2_story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161119140724/https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/the-billionaire-space-barons-and-the-next-giant-leap/2016/08/19/795a4012-6307-11e6-8b27-bb8ba39497a2_story.html |archive-date=19 November 2016 |access-date=20 August 2016 |newspaper=[[Washington Post]] |quote=''the government's monopoly on space travel is over'' |df=dmy-all}}</ref> By 2012, a private company had begun transporting cargo to and from the [[International Space Station]], while a second private company was scheduled to begin making deliveries in 2013, ushering in a time of regular private space cargo delivery to and return from the government-owned space facility in [[low Earth orbit]] (LEO).<ref name="wired20121227">{{cite news|url=https://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/12/audacious-space-companies-2012/|title=The Year's Most Audacious Private Space Exploration Plans|last=Mann|first=Adam|date=27 December 2012|newspaper=Wired|access-date=20 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117134652/http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/12/audacious-space-companies-2012/|archive-date=17 January 2013|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref> In this new paradigm for LEO cargo transport, the government contracts for and pays for cargo services on substantially privately developed [[spacecraft|space vehicles]] rather than the government operating each of the cargo vehicles and [[Space logistics|cargo delivery systems.]] {{as of|2013}}, there is a [[Comparison of space station cargo vehicles|mix of private and government resupply vehicles]] being used for the ISS, as the [[Government of Russia|Russian]] [[Soyuz (spacecraft)|Soyuz]] and [[Progress (spacecraft)|Progress]] vehicles, and the [[European Space Agency]] (ESA) [[Automated Transfer Vehicle|ATV]] (through 2014) and the [[Government of Japan|Japanese]] [[H-II Transfer Vehicle|Kounotori]] (through 2021) remain in operation after the 2011 retirement of the US [[Space Shuttle]].

In June 2013, British newspaper ''[[The Independent]]'' claimed that "the space race is flaring back into life, and it's not massive institutions such as NASA that are in the running. The old view that human space flight is so complex, difficult and expensive that only huge government agencies could hope to accomplish it is being disproved by a new breed of flamboyant space privateers, who are planning to send humans out beyond the Earth's orbit for the first time since 1972,"<ref name="telegraph20130611">{{cite news|last=Hanlon|first=Michael|title=Roll up for the Red Planet |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/10112069/Roll-up-for-the-Red-Planet.html|access-date=14 June 2013|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=11 June 2013|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150411020313/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/10112069/Roll-up-for-the-Red-Planet.html|archive-date=11 April 2015|df=dmy-all}}</ref> particularly noting projects underway by [[Mars One]], [[Inspiration Mars Foundation]], [[Bigelow Aerospace]] and [[SpaceX]].<ref name=telegraph20130611/>

=== American deregulation ===
The [[Commercial Space Launch Act of 1984]] required encouragement of commercial space ventures, adding a new clause to NASA's [[mission statement]]:
:(c) Commercial Use of Space. - Congress declares that the general welfare of the United States requires that the Administration seek and encourage, to the maximum extent possible, the fullest commercial use of space.

Yet one of NASA's early actions was to effectively prevent private space flight through a large amount of regulation. From the beginning, though, this met significant opposition not only by the private sector, but in Congress. In 1962, Congress passed its first law pushing back the prohibition on private involvement in space, the [[Communications Satellite Act of 1962]]. While largely focusing on the satellites of its namesake, this was described by both the law's opponents ''and'' advocates of private space, as the first step on the road to privatisation.

While launch vehicles were originally bought from private contractors, from the beginning of the Shuttle program until the [[Space Shuttle Challenger|Space Shuttle ''Challenger'']] disaster in 1986, NASA attempted to position its shuttle as the sole legal space launch option.<ref name="uscbo19861001">{{cite web|title=Setting Space Transportation Policy for the 1990s|date=1 October 1986|publisher=US Congression Budget Office|url=http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/59xx/doc5935/doc24c-Entire.pdf|access-date=14 February 2008|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080213085324/http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/59xx/doc5935/doc24c-Entire.pdf|archive-date=13 February 2008|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
But with the mid-launch explosion/loss of ''[[Space Shuttle Challenger|Challenger]]'' came the suspension of the [[Federal government of the United States|government]]-operated shuttle flights, allowing the formation of a commercial launch industry.<ref name="bromberg1999">{{cite book|last=Bromberg|first=Joan Lisa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-UebVg1YqsoC&pg=PA186|title=NASA and the Space Industry |year=1999|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|isbn=978-0-8018-6532-9|page=186|quote="On the other hand, NASA resisted the buildup of a commercial launch industry. Launching was for many years an enterprise that was run by a de facto partnership of NASA and the companies from which NASA bought launchers and launch services. NASA proposed to put an end to that enterprise in the 1980s; it sought to enthrone the shuttle as the nation's commercial, as well as government, launcher. The prospect of erecting a private sector launch industry alongside the NASA shuttle was discussed, but it did not become a reality because the shuttle was too tough a competitor for private vehicles. Only the grounding of the shuttle after the Challenger accident allowed the commercial launch industry to get started".}}</ref>

On 4 July 1982, the Reagan administration released National Security Decision Directive Number 42 which officially set its goal to expand United States private-sector investment and involvement in civil space and space-related activities.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://fas.org/spp/military/docops/national/nsdd-42.htm|title=NSDD-42, National Space Policy, July 4, 1982|website=fas.org}}</ref>

On 16 May 1983, the Reagan administration issued National Security Decision Directive Number 94 encouraging the commercialization of expendable launch vehicles (ELVs), which directed that, "The U.S. Government will license, supervise, and/or regulate U.S. commercial ELV operations only to the extent required to meet its national and international obligations and to ensure public safety."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://fas.org/irp/offdocs/nsdd/nsdd-094.htm|title=NSDD - National Security Decision Directives - Reagan Administration|website=fas.org}}</ref>

On 30 October 1984, US President [[Ronald Reagan]] signed into law the [[Commercial Space Launch Act of 1984|Commercial Space Launch Act]].<ref name="csla1984">{{cite web|title=Statement on Signing the Commercial Space Launch Act|url=http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1984/103084i.htm|publisher=reagan.utexas.edu|access-date=14 February 2008|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080927081605/http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1984/103084i.htm|archive-date=27 September 2008|df=dmy-all}}</ref> This enabled an American industry of private operators of [[expendable launch system]]s. Prior to the signing of this law, all commercial satellite launches in the United States were restricted by Federal regulation to NASA's [[Space Shuttle program|Space Shuttle]].

On 11 February 1988, the Presidential Directive declared that the government should purchase commercially available space goods and services to the fullest extent feasible and shall not conduct activities with potential commercial applications that preclude or deter Commercial Sector space activities except for national security or public safety reasons.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://fas.org/spp/military/docops/national/policy88.htm|title=Presidential Directive on National Space Policy, Feb. 11, 1988|website=fas.org}}</ref>

On 5 November 1990, United States President [[George H. W. Bush]] signed into law the [[Launch Services Purchase Act of 1990|Launch Services Purchase Act]].<ref>{{cite web|title=$ 2465d. Requirement of US Federal government to procure commercial launch services|url=http://www.space-frontier.org/commercialspace/lspalaw.txt|publisher=space-frontier.org|access-date=14 February 2008|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080204082111/http://www.space-frontier.org/commercialspace/lspalaw.txt|archive-date=4 February 2008|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The Act, in a complete reversal of the earlier Space Shuttle monopoly, ordered NASA to purchase launch services for its primary payloads from commercial providers whenever such services are required in the course of its activities.

In 1996, the United States government selected [[Lockheed Martin]] and [[Boeing]] to each develop [[Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle]]s (EELV) to compete for launch contracts and provide assured access to space. The government's acquisition strategy relied on the strong commercial viability of both vehicles to lower unit costs. This anticipated market demand did not materialise, but both the [[Delta IV rocket|Delta IV]] and [[Atlas V]] EELVs remain in active service.

Commercial launches outnumbered government launches at the [[Eastern Range]] in 1997.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=9790&page=1|title=Streamlining Space Launch Range Safety - Executive Summary |year=2000 |publisher=[[United States National Academy of Sciences|National Academy of Sciences]]|doi=10.17226/9790 |isbn=978-0-309-06931-1 |access-date=13 February 2008}}</ref>

The [[Commercial Space Act of 1998|Commercial Space Act]] was passed in 1998 and implements many of the provisions of the [[Launch Services Purchase Act of 1990]].<ref name="usg19981028">{{cite news |title=Public Law 105-303: Commercial Space Act of 1998|url=http://www.nasa.gov/offices/ogc/commercial/CommercialSpaceActof1998.html|access-date=25 December 2014|work=NASA Office of the General Counsel - Reference|publisher=NASA|date=28 October 1998|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150202023518/http://www.nasa.gov/offices/ogc/commercial/CommercialSpaceActof1998.html|archive-date=2 February 2015|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Nonetheless, until 2004 NASA kept private space flight effectively illegal.<ref>[http://www.asi.org/adb/j/02/legal-roadblocks.html It's illegal for private enterprise to go into space.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990218062255/http://www.asi.org/adb/j/02/legal-roadblocks.html|date=1999-02-18}}<br/> U.S. law regulates private space launches, and the current law is quite unreasonable. A private company wanting to build and launch a rocket faces a mountain of red tape and very long lead times for getting approval from the government. However, although these problems add a tremendous amount of cost to private space launches, there are no laws that prohibit private space launches.</ref> But that year, the [[Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act of 2004]] required that NASA and the [[Federal Aviation Administration]] legalise private space flight.<ref name=nbc2004>[https://www.nbcnews.com/id/6682611/ns/technology_and_science-space/t/private-spaceflight-bill-signed-law/ Private Spaceflight Bill Signed into Law] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141231001919/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/6682611/ns/technology_and_science-space/t/private-spaceflight-bill-signed-law/|date=31 December 2014}}<br/>The Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act, or H.R. 5382, placed a clear legislative stamp on regulations that were being formulated by the Federal Aviation Administration. Among other provisions, the law was intended to let paying passengers fly on suborbital launch vehicles at their own risk.</ref>
The 2004 Act also specified a "learning period" which restricted the ability of the FAA to enact regulations regarding the safety of people who might actually fly on commercial spacecraft through 2012, ostensibly because spaceflight participants would share the risk of flight through [[informed consent]] procedures of human spaceflight risks, while requiring the launch provider to be legally liable for potential losses to uninvolved persons and structures.<ref name=tsr20150526/>

To the end of 2014, commercial passenger flights in space has remained effectively illegal, as the FAA has refused to give a commercial operator's license to any private space company.<ref>[http://www.jaunted.com/story/2014/1/29/17284/7200/travel/Wow.+FAA+Paperwork+Delays+May+Block+Virgin+Galactic+Debut. Wow. FAA Paperwork Delays May Block Virgin Galactic Debut.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141231035525/http://www.jaunted.com/story/2014/1/29/17284/7200/travel/Wow.+FAA+Paperwork+Delays+May+Block+Virgin+Galactic+Debut.|date=31 December 2014}}</ref>

The [[United States Government|United States]] updated US commercial space legislation with the passage of the [[SPACE Act of 2015|''Spurring Private Aerospace Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship Act of 2015'' (SPACE Act of 2015)]] in November 2015.<ref name="hr2262">{{cite web |url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/2262|title=H.R.2262 – 114th Congress (2015–2016): U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act|date=25 November 2015|work=congress.gov |access-date=30 November 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151119195538/https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/2262|archive-date=19 November 2015|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

The update US law explicitly allows "US citizens to engage in the commercial exploration and exploitation of 'space resources' [including... water and minerals]". The right does not extend to [[biological life]], so anything that is alive may not be exploited commercially.<ref name="wired20151112">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2015-11/12/how-to-mine-asteroids-for-fun-and-profit|title=Space Act of 2015: American companies could soon mine asteroids for profit (Wired UK)|magazine=Wired UK|access-date=30 November 2015|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151204145256/http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2015-11/12/how-to-mine-asteroids-for-fun-and-profit|archive-date=4 December 2015|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The Act further asserts that "the United States does not [(by this Act)] assert [[sovereignty]], or sovereign or [[exclusive right]]s or jurisdiction over, or the ownership of, any [[celestial body]]".<ref name=wired20151112/>

The SPACE Act includes the extension of [[indemnification]] of US launch providers for extraordinary catastrophic <!-- above {{USD|3 billion}}, the launch providers are responsible for all losses to themselves plus the first $3 billion of losses to third parties, and these are ordinarily insured by commercial launch insurance, paid for by the company. --> third-party losses of a failed launch through 2025, while the previous indemnification law was scheduled to expire in 2016. The Act also extends, through 2025, the "learning period" restrictions which limit the ability of the FAA to enact regulations regarding the safety of spaceflight ''participants''.<ref name="tsr20150526">{{cite news|last1=Foust|first1=Jeff|title=Congress launches commercial space legislation|url=http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2759/1|access-date=2 June 2015|work=The Space Review|publisher=Space News|date=26 May 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150527063504/http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2759/1|archive-date=27 May 2015 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Indemnification for extraordinary third-party losses has, as of 2015, been a component of US space law for over 25 years, and during this time, "has never been invoked in any commercial launch mishap".<ref name=tsr20150526/>

=== Russian privatization ===
{{Main|Space industry of Russia}}
In 1992, a Resurs-500 capsule containing gifts was launched from [[Plesetsk Cosmodrome]] in a private spaceflight called [[Space Flight Europe-America 500|Europe-America 500]]. The flight was conceived by the Russian [[Foundation for Social Inventions]] and [[Progress State Research and Production Rocket Space Center|TsSKB-Progress]], a Russian rocket-building company, to increase trade between Russia and the United States, and to promote the use of technology once reserved only for military forces. Money for the launch was raised from a collection of Russian companies. The capsule parachuted into the Pacific Ocean and was brought to Seattle by a Russian missile-tracking ship.

=== Launch alliances ===
[[File:Proton Zvezda crop.jpg|thumb|Launch of a Proton rocket]]

Since 1995 Khrunichev's [[Proton rocket]] has been marketed through [[International Launch Services]], while the [[Soyuz (rocket family)|Soyuz rocket]] is marketed via [[Starsem]]. The [[Sea Launch]] project flew the Ukrainian [[Zenit rocket]].

In 2003, Arianespace joined with [[Boeing]] Launch Services and [[Mitsubishi Heavy Industries]] to create the [[Launch Services Alliance]]. In 2005, continued weak commercial demand for EELV launches drove Lockheed Martin and Boeing to propose a joint venture called the [[United Launch Alliance]] to service the United States government launch market.<ref>{{cite web|title=Boeing, Lockheed Martin to Form Launch Services Joint Venture| date=2 May 2005 |url=http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=16790|publisher=spaceref.com|access-date=13 February 2008|url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121209234346/http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=16790|archive-date=9 December 2012|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

=== Spaceflight privatization ===
Since the 1980s, various private initiatives have [[Startup company|started up]] to pursue the private use of [[outer space|space]]. Traditional costs to launch anything to space have been high—on the order of tens of thousands of US dollars per kilogram—but by 2020, costs on the order of a few thousand dollars per kilogram are being seen from one private launch provider that was an early 2000s startup, with the cost projected to fall to less than a few hundred dollars per kilogram<!-- as "large, even gigantic, reusable rockets such as Starship or New Glenn" come online. --> as the technology of a second private spaceflight startup of ~2000 comes into service.<ref name=tc20200818>[https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/18/private-space-industrialization-is-here/ Private space industrialization is here], [[Mikhail Kokorich]], [[TechCrunch]], 18 August 2020, accessed 25 August 2020.</ref>

The first privately funded rocket to reach the boundary of space, the [[Kármán line]], (although not orbit) was [[Conestoga (rocket)|Conestoga I]], which was launched by [[Space Services Inc.]] on a suborbital flight to {{convert|309|km}} altitude on 9 September 1982.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spaceservicesinc.com/#!company-heritage/c1z05|title=Heritage: Pioneering the Commercial Space Frontier|publisher=Space Services Inc.|access-date=18 August 2015|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150803174817/http://www.spaceservicesinc.com/#!company-heritage/c1z05|archive-date=3 August 2015|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.astronautix.com/sites/matsland.htm|title=Matagorda Island|last=Wade|first=Mark|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Astronautica|access-date=18 August 2015|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140210032018/http://www.astronautix.com/sites/matsland.htm|archive-date=10 February 2014|df=dmy-all}}</ref>  In October 1995, their first (and only) attempt at an orbital launch, Conestoga 1620, failed to achieve orbit due to a guidance system failure.<ref>Tim Furniss, "[https://www.flightglobal.com/first-conestoga-booster-explodes-after-launch/13792.article First Conestoga booster explodes after launch]", 31 October 1995, ''Flightglobal.com''.  Accessed 1 June 2020</ref>

[[File:Pegasus Air Launch.jpg|thumb|right|First launch of the Pegasus rocket, from a NASA-owned [[Boeing B-52 Stratofortress|B-52]]]]
On April 5, 1990, [[Orbital Sciences Corporation]]'s [[Pegasus (rocket)|Pegasus]], an [[air launch]]ed rocket, was the first launch vehicle fully developed by a private company to reach orbit.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.orbitalatk.com/flight-systems/space-launch-vehicles/pegasus/|title=Pegasus|publisher=Orbital ATK|access-date=17 June 2016}}</ref>

In the early 2000s, several public-private corporate partnerships were established in the United States to privately develop spaceflight technology. Several purely private initiatives have shown interest in private endeavors to the [[inner Solar System]].<ref name="iac">{{cite web|last1=Pittman|first1=Bruce|last2=Rasky|first2=Dan|last3=Harper|first3=Lynn|title=Infrastructure Based Exploration – An Affordable Path To Sustainable Space Development |url=https://cammpus.s3.amazonaws.com/resource/file/5351/IAC_Paper_Commercial_Space.pdf|publisher=IAC|access-date=14 October 2014|location=IAC - 12, D3, 2, 4, x14203|year=2012|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141026081409/https://cammpus.s3.amazonaws.com/resource/file/5351/IAC_Paper_Commercial_Space.pdf|archive-date=26 October 2014|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

In 2006, NASA initiated a program to purchase commercial [[space transport]] to carry cargo to the [[International Space Station]], while funding a portion of the development of new technology in a [[public-private partnership]].<ref name="belfiore2007"/>{{rp|10}}

In May 2015, the Japanese legislature considered legislation to allow private company spaceflight initiatives in Japan.<ref name="jn20150603">{{cite news|title=Private-sector rocket launch legislation eyed |url=http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0002195521|access-date=5 June 2015|work=Japan News|publisher=Yomiuri Shimbun|date=3 June 2015|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150607023425/http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0002195521|archive-date=7 June 2015|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

In 2016, the United States granted its first clearance for a private flight to the Moon, from the FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation.<ref name="2016:August:Fingas">{{cite web|url=https://www.engadget.com/2016/08/03/us-clears-private-moon-flight/?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAIZctMMN9UqViHFf_p7Gh6wISe6jEMvRU11oYLHttJMHdVNLM_VQLdSbyT-KMyOyLiGIiuRTJ7aEPUVPFZ3PleRKEDSbP_iRvepmzCR_e4in9xJ0NPnv2We0Y7aPcnf9zeGmm9Fl_g4bXHJy5JM-OE6Y4j-WviLc7Z6zrbhevRA3|title=US grants its first clearance for a private flight to the Moon|last=Fingas|first=Jon |date=August 3, 2016|website=www.endgadget.com}}</ref>

On 30 May 2020, [[Crew Dragon Demo-2]] operated by [[SpaceX]] became the first crewed mission to the [[International Space Station]] in the [[Commercial Crew Program]].

After 2015, European-based private small-lift launch vehicle development got underway, particularly in Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom, but "France has largely been left out of this new commercial launch industry".<ref name=ars20211207/>  In 2021, the [[Government of France]] announced a plan to fund the "France-based rocket firm [[ArianeGroup]] to develop a new small-lift rocket called [[Maïa (rocket)|Maïa]] by the year 2026,"<ref name="ars20211207">{{cite news|last=Berger|first=Erik|date=7 December 2021|title=Concerned about SpaceX, France to accelerate reusable rocket plans|work=[[Ars Technica]]|url=https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/12/france-seeks-to-build-reusable-rocket-make-up-for-bad-choices-in-the-past/|access-date=19 December 2021}}</ref> which would be a government-funded but commercially developed rocket.

On 22 February 2024, Intuitive Machine's private [[Intuitive Machines Nova-C#IM-1 mission|''Odysseus'']] successfully landed on the Moon after taking off on a SpaceX [[Falcon 9]] liftoff on 15 February 2024 in a mission between [[NASA]], [[SpaceX]], and [[Intuitive Machines]]. This event marked the first successful landing of a privately owned spacecraft on the Moon and the United States' first lunar landing in over 50 years and the first lander to do so with [[cryogenic]] [[propellant]]s.<ref>[https://www.space.com/spacex-intuitive-machines-nova-c-moon-lander-launch-preparations SpaceX gearing up to launch Intuitive Machines private moon lander in February] Space.com. By Mike Wall.  Jan. 31, 2024. Retrieved Feb. 5, 2024.</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=David |first1=Emillia |title=Odysseus achieves the first US Moon landing since 1972 |url=https://www.theverge.com/2024/2/22/24080498/odysseus-lunar-lander-nasa-moon-intuitive-machines |website=The Verge |date=22 February 2024 |access-date=23 February 2024}}</ref>