Space

WSJ: Elon Musk’s SpaceX Has a ‘De Facto Monopoly’ with 88% of Space Launches

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has emerged as the dominant force in the rocket-launch market, handling a staggering 88 percent of customer flights from American launch sites in the first half of 2023. One former Air Force space operations officer explains, “The fact is that the competition can’t field anything right now and that makes SpaceX a de facto monopoly.”

Elon Musk strikes a SpaceX pose (pool/Getty)

NASA Unveils Plan to Destroy the International Space Station

NASA has released a new statement outlining how it plans to operate the International Space Station until 2030. It will then be destroyed by plummeting the station out of orbit into a remote region of the Pacific Ocean. The agency plans to transition operations to commercial space stations in the future.

House panel to consider International Space Station's future

FAA Rule Change Strips ‘Astronaut’ Title from Jeff Bezos

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has been stripped of his “astronaut” titles by the FAA. According to the agency’s revised definition of astronaut, the term may only be used for those that “demonstrated activities during flight that were essential to public safety, or contributed to human space flight safety.”

Jeff Bezos speaks about his flight on Blue Origin’s New Shepard into space during a press conference on July 20, 2021 in Van Horn, Texas. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)