Moonstruck billionaires: Musk and Bezos on a mission in space

Sunday March 14th 2021

Moonstruck billionaires
Musk and Bezos on a mission in space

From Kevin Schulte

For decades the USA and Russia fought for supremacy in space. The highlight was the moon landing in 1969. Today space travel is experiencing a new boom. But this time it is not state space agencies that are racing, but the richest people in the world.

More than half a century ago, Neil Armstrong and "Buzz" Aldrin made their first footprints on the moon. The Americans write space history, from everywhere you look in awe at NASA. A few years later, the era of the space shuttle begins, it is the golden age for US space travel. But after the turn of the millennium, the boom is over. The shuttle program is being phased out in response to the 2003 Columbia disaster. Long-planned missions are still being carried out, but the shuttle era will finally end in 2011.

Since then, NASA as the US state space agency has no longer been in the foreground. Private companies make the headlines in space. The best known of them is Space X, led by Tesla boss Elon Musk. "His company SpaceX has advanced to become the world market leader in the past few years," says Stefanos Fasoulas, head of the Institute for Space Systems at the University of Stuttgart, in the ntv podcast "Another thing learned". What SpaceX is doing is "impressive," said Fasoulas. "Elon Musk is the big player among private investors in space travel. But now with SpaceX he is also in a leading position in relation to state space organizations."

Space made cheaper

Elon Musk founded his space company in 2002 as a small garage company. Almost six years later, SpaceX put a rocket into orbit for the first time, the Falcon 1. A short time later, the first contract was signed with NASA. Since 2012, the company has been responsible for supply flights for US astronauts on the International Space Station and flies satellites into orbit for companies and states.

In the past few years, SpaceX has repeatedly set new standards. At the end of 2015, for example, when the main stage of a launcher landed safely back on earth by itself. That was the beginning of a new space age. No one before had managed to use rocket stages multiple times. SpaceX made space travel cheaper.

"The first ten years were an extremely high learning curve. It took a while until a functioning system was available as a carrier system." Space expert Fasoulas compares the first time with a toddler learning to walk. "A small child very often gets blown away, but learns from it and does it better next time." It was the same with SpaceX. In addition, the company was ridiculed by many players in the space industry. "It was questioned whether the ambitions could actually be implemented. But they continued undeterred."

In the past few years, Musk and his team have been able to reap more and more fruits of their work. When SpaceX sends a new rocket into space, the world looks. The big media highlights were the start of the Falcon Heavy with a Tesla on board in February 2018 and the US return to manned space travel in May 2020. SpaceX safely brought astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken to the ISS with the Crew Dragon spaceship. For the first time in nine years, US astronauts were again shot from American soil in the direction of space.

World's largest satellite operator

In February 2018, SpaceX sent a Tesla into space when the Falcon Heavy was first launched.

(Photo: imago images / Leemage)

All of these missions also serve as preparation for the ultimate goal: Musk dreams of Mars, wants to colonize the red planet. The next stopover of SpaceX is first of all the moon. In 2023 Elon Musk wants to let tourists fly around the earth's satellite with the Starship. Anyone can apply for a crew place alongside the Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa until March 14th.

"It looks like a completely new market is being opened up here, be it with astronautical space travel or touristic space travel. And SpaceX also works as a service provider for institutions. But the really big business is satellite services," says Stefanos Fasoulas. The aim is to offer fast internet to all of humanity. To this end, SpaceX is building the Starlink satellite network. "Two years ago not a single satellite was launched. Now SpaceX is the largest satellite operator in the world with almost 1200 satellites launched."

In the satellitebusiness Elon Musk could face competition in the next few years, and indeed From another rocket billionaire of all people: Jeff Bezos is currently not only leading the list of the richest people in the world – ahead of Elon Musk. The long-time Amazon boss also competes in the space business with the Tesla boss and SpaceX maker. His company Blue Origin is working on its own rocket, which will also be used to bring satellites into orbit in the future.

"From my point of view, space travel has a key role. In the future, space travel will probably be what the roads, bridges and sea routes were a few centuries ago. It provides the infrastructure for the goods of the future," explains Fasoulas at "something learned again". The space professor recognizes a "huge market potential". Compared to roads, railways and sea routes, where material goods have been transported for centuries, space travel will "manage data transport in the future".

And the two richest people in the world right now are the pioneers in this field. Elon Musk wants to expand the Starlink network to almost 12,000 satellites by 2027. The Amazon subsidiary Kuiper has so far received 3200 satellites from the US telecommunications regulator FCC. But none have started yet. Nevertheless, there is already stunk with competitor SpaceX. Elon Musk wants to get permission from the FCC for his company to fly some of his satellites closer to earth. Kuiper is against it, fearing collisions in space.

Rocket billionaires as role models for the next generation

In the long term, however, Musk and Bezos will probably work together rather than against each other, expects Stefanos Fasoulas. "There are already first indications of this. Only recently, Jeff Bezos and Blue Origin respectively said that the launch of the satellites for the Kuiper constellation does not necessarily have to be carried out with its own carriers. For example, a meaningful cooperation would be possible and conceivable. I am I am sure that SpaceX would not shut itself off when it comes to the launch of potentially 3000 satellites. "

It is quite possible that Musk and Bezos actually do not have long arguments about orbits. The rocket billionaires cannot shoot an infinite number of satellites into space anyway. The more satellites there are in space, the more space debris collects over our heads. And the ISS already has to regularly fly evasive maneuvers in order not to collide with space debris.

Nevertheless, Stefanos Fasoulas sees the billionaires' space race as positive: "What one shouldn't underestimate is the inspiration for the youth. These people are idols for the next generation of technical and natural sciences, they serve as role models and motivators. That is special to me noticed in the last year and a half. " For example, more participants would register as Elon Musk at online events, says the institute director. "It happens that we then have Elon Musk 1, Elon Musk 2 and Elon Musk 3 in the meeting."