When talking about private space programs, most people will think of the visionary American entrepreneur Elon Musk and his Space X. He founded the company aiming to send humans to Mars. Recently, a Chinese private aerospace company, i-Space, successfully launched its own carrier rocket SQX-1 into orbit, giving new momentum to the development of the private aerospace industry.
The goal of humans again walking on the Moon is one giant leap closer. Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) has completed building the capsule for NASA's Orion spacecraft.
New insights from companies in the growing space economy are helping NASA chart a course for the future of commercial human spaceflight in low-Earth orbit.
At the heart of future rocket engines lifting off to the Moon or Mars could be a 3D printed combustion chamber. Multiple NASA centers partnered with Virgin Orbit to develop and test a uniquely manufactured rocket part.
Lockheed Martin recently tested a critical event on NASA's Orion spaceship - the jettison of the forward bay cover on the program's structural test article.
